Washington said he offered the bill because he has heard from so many fathers who have gone through the court system trying to get visitation and joint custody.

"There's mounting frustration among fathers that basically have been - they feel - snubbed by the courts. It's not to say one parent is better than the other parent," Washington said after the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. "But it's at least to say that with joint custody there's equal footing and there's equal rights for visitation and to participate in the child's life."

The presumption would not apply when a parent has been convicted of certain crimes or has committed acts of domestic violence, and the courts also could call for an investigation to see whether joint custody is inappropriate.

Those who lined up to testify said on one hand that joint custody hurts children's development because they don't have one place to consider home, while others - mostly fathers - said custody proceedings tend to favor the mother and that keeps them away from their children.

"The first step needs to be taken," said Garret Idle, a Reno Realtor who is filing for full custody of his two children. "The current system drives families apart."

Jeff May, a legislative police officer and father of a 9-year-old, said he wishes he could see his daughter more often than every other weekend, during half of the summer and on half of the holidays.

"I know I'm speaking for thousands of daddies statewide," he said, adding that those fathers also would testify if they weren't busy at jobs so they can make their child-support payments on time.

"This ultimately comes down to the children. This is all about the children," he said, adding, "Dividing the time equally I think would be fair."

But Rita McGary, a case manager for Safe Embrace, a family violence intervention program in Reno, said that children don't do as well when their time is split 50-50 between parents. She also said many women involved in divorce proceedings have been victims of domestic violence and that joint custody could bring "the conflicted couple into contact much too often to expect that domestic violence will not continue."

Ray Oster, a Reno family practice attorney, said that making joint custody work requires the parents to communicate. When adversarial situations arise, the children suffer, he said.

"The No. 1 reality is there has to be a place for these children to have a residence," he said, adding, "Think about your life skills you've developed. Can you imagine going back and forth to a different house every week?"

The bill will be considered in work session, perhaps more than one time, in the coming month, said the committee's chairman, Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City.

"Obviously this issue is not one that lends itself to a quick and simple solution," he said.