Parenting Plan Checklist
Constructing a parenting plan during your divorce outlines how you and your co-parent handle parenting matters and sustain the well-being of your kids. In addition, a well-written parenting plan can help co-parenting and raising kids in different homes be much easier, as it serves as a point of consideration for actions to take to address various parenting problems as they occur.
A parenting plan also plans how you and the co-parent communicate and settle matters regarding the kids without contention or consequences. A well-written parenting plan is a map of how your family functions moving forward. While making parenting agreements may seem tedious, the most essential thing to recognize when composing the plan is to keep issues centered on supporting your child's best interest and sustaining their well-welfare. Our child custody attorney in Orlando offers this guide to parenting plans:
Parenting plan topics
Developing a thriving parenting plan is possible. Experts suggest this checklist of points not to overlook:
- Parenting schedule
A parenting schedule determines how your kids split their time between each parent's residence. Be certain to incorporate methods of transport between dwellings during exchanges.
- Holidays and special dates
It's critical to assess how you will share time with your kids over school leaves, holidays, vacations, and other memorable circumstances for your clan. It is helpful to develop a scheduling pattern that arranges for holiday parenting time years into the future.
- Vacations and travel
Don't forget to regard how far ahead trips need to be planned, who will pay for the journey, and if there are individuals who cannot travel with your kids.
- Extended friends and family
Contemplate adding guidelines for how kids can spend time and communicate with extended relatives like cousins, close family friends, and grandparents. In addition, bring to your lawyer's awareness any people you would like not to communicate with your kids for safety reasons.
- Schedule changes
It's crucial to assess how far ahead of time you and your co-parent must propose modifications to a parenting schedule. Examine how to communicate about modifications and what transpires when changes occur due to crises.
- Making important decisions
Be sure to determine how to make judgments about faith, punishment, education, healthcare, and much more in the parenting plan. Of course, you and your co-parent may have some of this determined for you by the bench. But, it should all be documented in the plan so you can reference the points as required.
- Expenses
It's vital to examine how you will cover kids' cost of living. This includes medical costs, extracurricular expenses, school tuition, clothes, meals, etc. Deciding if you will share the burden for all child-related expenditures or if you each are a hundred percent liable for certain costs is essential. It's worth noting that much of this may be decided by a court ruling, but it should still be documented in your plan.
- Communicating with the kids.
Assess how you or your co-parent contact your kids when you are away from them, particularly if one parent can't be with the kids as much as the other. Contact methods may include letters, online messages, phone calls, or video chats. It's critical to choose the best methods for your family and document them plainly in your parenting plan.
- Co-parent communication
Specifying the method of communication you use with your co-parent is vital for every family. First, determine the information you should discuss and how often to communicate.
Sharing these topics with your child custody attorney in Orlando and discussing any concerns is paramount to the divorce process. An attorney can offer you expert guidance and help you navigate through writing your parenting plan and answer any legal questions you have regarding your case.