Primary residential parent is a practical label for the parent with whom the child lives most of the time. It is not a formal legal term under current Arizona statutory language but it appears in parenting plans and is used commonly by parents, schools, and institutions.

Being the primary residential parent typically means the child's primary address is at that parent's home, school enrollment flows from that address, and the child spends more than half of their overnights there over the course of a year.

The designation of primary residential parent does not by itself determine legal decision making authority. Joint legal decision making and primary residential status for one parent coexist in many Arizona parenting plans.

When parenting time is substantially unequal, child support is typically calculated based on the number of parenting time days each parent has. The parent with fewer days typically pays support to the parent with more days. The primary residential parent designation correlates with but does not automatically determine the support calculation.