Fargo family law attorney Jason McLean, co-chair of the association's family law task force, argued the equal presumption would win out too often, because it would take a lot of evidence and a hearing to overturn. Judges would lack appropriate guidance on deciding otherwise and the new law may bring more families back to court, he said.

"The presumption will control everything. Presumptions are designed to control everything," McLean said in an interview after the hearing.

But in a move that surprised a key opponent, McLean offered an amended version of the bill that would define shared parenting in the statute and spell it out as an option for judges to consider. The amended law also instructs judges to identify the reasons for their custody decisions.

McLean said the proposal came out of discussions with experts at the task force, which was created after the 2014 election. He said many judges don't understand that shared parenting is an alternative and resort to standard arrangements, like every other weekend.

Arnie Fleck, a Bismarck attorney who strongly supports the bill, sued the bar association for funding advocacy opposing the 2014 measure and recently criticized the task force as stacked with shared parenting opponents, said he was "impressed" the state bar gave a proposal back.