Parenting Plan

One of the major tasks you and your estranged spouse have to do right after filing for divorcing is to set up a detailed and specific parenting plan regarding your children. You need this because you have rights as a parent to your children and it’s your duty to exercise those rights.

You then give this parenting plan to the courts for approval so that it becomes final and permanent when the divorce is finalized. It’s important to have this because you don’t want vagueness and hurt feelings. Usually, the court will have a few lines on your divorce agreement that you can visit your children ‘upon agreement of the parties’ or that you have ‘reasonable visitation’. This is rather undefined because your spouse won’t always agree on everything.

The parenting plan will break down the details. These details include the weekend visits, shared parenting duties and other issues like monetary child support information. Through this parenting plan duly signed by both parties, you will have peace of mind knowing that you will always have access to your children and you have legal remedies if your spouse does not agree.

Of course, this parenting plan will be done together so it’s best to be fair and cooperative. Always make sure your present your ideas as a benefit for the kids and it’s not just for you two. It’s always for the kids. Always remember that the divorce has harmful effects on the children so the least you can do as parents is to ease them into the process and still love your children as parents. Remember that your goal is for your children to have a happy life even if their parents are divorced.

The parenting plan should address every issue that could potentially blow up into a future argument. It should anticipate all the possible problems and issues that could turn up. By agreeing on the details, it will be easy to resolve issues if they arise. This is good so there won’t be anything to haunt you in the future.

A good parenting plan will cover the following: (1) Legal custody which includes health, education and welfare decisions of the children, (2) Physical custody, (3) Holiday visits (including summer and school breaks), (3) religion, and issues such as access to records, doctors, school teachers, etc, and even (4) legal issues like, what happens if your child gets into legal trouble? What is the plan when that happens?

To summarize, a detailed parenting plan will save you money and headaches in the long run. The most important thing it will bring is that your child will still enjoy the love of both parents, and that’s what matters.