how to create a parenting plan
DESCRIPTION
http://bit.ly/1pE9hPq - Potty Training In 3 Days Guaranteed Potty Training Methods - 97% Success Rate With Fast Results. View more http://bit.ly/1pE9hPq --------------------------------------- How to create a parenting plan --------------------------------------- parenting plan examples parenting plan wa parenting plan florida parenting plan form parenting plan oregon parenting plan tn parenting plan template parenting plan colorado parenting plan arizona parenting plan cafcass parenting plan agreement parenting plan australia parenting plan assessment parenting plan alberta parenting plan advice parenting plan apps parenting plan alcoholic parenting plan and child support parenting plan and time-sharing parenting plan booklet parenting plan bc parenting plan billings mt parenting plan brochure parenting plan broward county florida parenting plan b parenting plan brisbane parenting plan bombay high court parenting plan breach parenting plan b georgia parenting plan californiaTRANSCRIPT
How to Create a
How to Create a Parenting Plan A parenting plan is a document that two co-parents
who do not live together use to help them work
together to raise their child. The parenting plan may
be mandated by family court, or it may be a more
informal document. When writing a parenting plan,
take time to consider how you want to approach all
aspects of child rearing. No matter what agreement
you come to, understand that you may have to
amend it as your child ages.
Establishing Custody and Visitation
1 Decide on the normal schedule. The first thing that
you need to decide is who the child will live with and
how often the other parent will visit the child.
Depending on your individual circumstances, you
may decide on joint custody, or you may decide that
it is best for the child to live primarily with one
parent.[1]
If you have a baby, try to arrange the schedule so
that both parents have the opportunity to participate
in the day-to-day care of the baby, as this is
important for bonding.
If your child is older, the school schedule may
influence your visitation schedule.
In addition to establishing a regular schedule, talk
about what will happen if one parent decides to
move.
2 Create a plan for holidays and vacations. You
may want to make some special adjustments to your
visitation schedule to accommodate for holidays and
vacations. For example, if Father's Day falls on a
day when the child would normally be with the
mother, you may want to make a special exception
for that day.[2]
If you live close to each other, you may be able to
split holidays with your child's other parent. For
example, you may have the child for Christmas
morning and your co-parent may have the child for
Christmas evening.
Be sure to consider vacation plans as well. For
example, if you plan on taking a two-week vacation
with your child over the summer, decide if your co-
parent will be allowed to do the same. Be sure to
coordinate vacations with your co-parent to avoid
scheduling conflicts.
You may also want to plan for birthday parties.
Decide if you will have separate parties or if you will
have one party to which both sides of the family will
be invited.[3]
3 Think about special circumstances. In addition to
holidays and vacations, there may be other things
that pop up that will necessitate an adjustment to the
visitation schedule. While it's impossible to plan for
everything, having a basic idea of how you will
handle special circumstances will help you avoid
conflicts with your co-parent when they do come
up.[4]
Think about how you will adjust the schedule if the
child is sick during a visitation time.
Decide how you will deal with it if something
unexpected disrupts the schedule, like a funeral or a
last-minute invitation to a birthday party.
If the child is not able to be with one parent during a
normal visit day, decide if you will make this day up
or just continue with the regular schedule. You may
choose to have the child spend an extra day with
that parent during the next visit, for example.
4 Outline who the child is allowed to see or stay
with. If there are certain members of the family who
you do not trust to be around your child, it is
important to outline these restrictions in the
parenting plan. Talk through your concerns and
decide if it is okay for the person to be around your
child, as long as they are not alone.[5]
You may also want to establish general guidelines
for the type of person who is allowed to babysit your
child. For example, you and your co-parent may
agree that all babysitters must be at least 16 years
old and must be certified in CPR.
5 Decide how you will exchange your child. If your
child spends time with both you and your co-parent,
you will need to establish a procedure for
exchanging the child. The right arrangement for you
will depend on the kind of relationship you have with
your co-parent and how close you live to each
other.[6]
If you and your co-parent have a good relationship,
you could simply drop the child off at each other's
houses.
If you do not want your co-parent coming to your
house, you could meet in a neutral location.
You could also arrange your schedule so that one
parent drops the child off at school and the other
picks the child up from school.
Planning Everyday Routines and
Activities
1 Decide how you will choose
activities. Extracurricular activities often involve a
big time commitment, so it's important to talk to your
co-parent about what activities your child will
participate in. Figure out if you will discuss each
activity before committing to it or if one parent will be
permitted to sign the child up for an activity without
the approval of the other.[7]
In addition to time considerations, you should also
consider that your co-parent may not agree with the
activity or may think it is too expensive. Having a
plan for dealing with these kinds of situations ahead
of time will make the decisions much easier.
Make sure to think about transportation to and from
activities, especially if they are far away. It's
important to agree on this before committing your
child to any activities that may take place during your
co-parent's visitation time.
2 Agree on who will attend events. Whether your
child plays soccer or performs in the school play,
you will eventually be faced with an event that you
may both want to attend. Come up with an
agreement regarding who will attend which events
with your child.[8]
You may decide to attend alternating events,
especially if they are frequent.
If you agree to both attend, decide if there will be
any rules. Will you interact with each other or will
you sit separately and not speak to each other?
3
Decide how you will communicate with your co-
parent. Lots of things will come up while your child
is with you that your co-parent will want to know
about, and vice-versa. This includes things like the
schedule for soccer games, punishments you have
established, or issues that your child has been
having at school. It's important to have a plan for
how and when you will communicate this type of
information. [9]
Decide on your preferred method of communication.
If you don't like talking to your co-parent in person or
on the phone, you may decide to communicate by
email.
Also decide what information needs to be shared.
You co-parent may want to know about it every time
your child has a cold, or the two of you may decide
that this is not necessary.
4 Coordinate routines. Walk through your child's
everyday routine with the other parent and try to
agree on a schedule that you both can follow.
Consistency is very important for young children, so
having the same routine in both households will
make things much easier.[10]
For babies, it's important that sleeping and feeding
schedules remain consistent.
For older children, it's important that homework and
playtime routines remain consistent.
5 Establish rules for communication with the
child. It's important to lay out clear rules for how and
when each parent will communicate with the child
during the other parent's visit time. Try to come to an
agreement that allows the child to stay in contact
with both parents regularly, but which will not cause
conflicts between the parents.[11]
You may choose to establish rules regarding the
hours during which the other parent can call the
child. You may also want to both agree to allow the
child privacy when talking to the other parent.
Your rules may change depending on your
schedule. For example, if the child is staying with
one parent for the entire summer, the other parent
may want to phone frequently. If the child is only with
the other parent for a few hours, frequent phone
calls may not be appropriate.
In addition, you and your co-parent must decide how
much information about the parenting plan you will
share with your child. The right choice for you will
depend on your child's age and maturity level. For
example, if you have a teenage son who you think
would appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the
plan, you may want to allow him to help you make
some of your decisions. You may decide that certain
aspects of the parenting plan, like the financial
clauses, are not appropriate to share.
Agreeing on Financial Responsibilities
1 Establish a child support agreement. Child
support is probably the most hotly contested aspect
of a parenting plan. Most often, the non-custodial
parent pays a fixed amount of money to the other
parent each month to help cover the child's
expenses. The amount will depend on each parent's
income and the custody arrangement. If possible, try
to agree on a child support arrangement that works
for both you and your co-parent.[12]
If you are not able to come to an agreement about
child support, you can go to family court and have a
judge mandate child support.
Keep in mind that child support may need to change
if other elements of the parenting plan change. You
may have to go to court to get these changes made.
2 Discuss financial support for adult children. In
most cases, child support is only mandated for
minors. However, you and your co-parent may
decide that it is appropriate to financially support
your child for longer. If this is the case, you will need
to incorporate the details of your financial support
into your parenting plan.[13]
You may want to establish an age at which you will
no longer financially support your child, or you may
want to use some other factor to determine financial
support. For example, you and your co-parent may
decide that your financial support will end when your
child graduates from college.
3 Discuss how everyday expenses will be
handled. If it is not already outlined in your child
support agreement, discuss with your co-parent who
will be responsible for everyday expenses. For
example, if your child is going to a birthday party and
needs to buy a gift, who will pay for it?
You may also want to come up with guidelines for
how much it is appropriate to spend on certain items.
4 Determine how you will handle large
expenses. In addition to everyday expenses, you
and your co-parent will need a plan for larger
expenses associated with your child. This may
include things like medical bills or the fees
associated with a school trip abroad.[14]
You may want to make a provision that would
require that large (non-emergency) expenses be
agreed upon before they are incurred. This would
prevent your co-parent from making a costly
purchase for your child that you do not agree with
and then expecting you to pay for half of it.
5
Decide if belongings will be shared. Decide with
your co-parent whether you will keep individual items
for your child at each of your homes or if you will
allow your child to bring items back and forth. This
may be applicable to anything from a video game
system to basic items like clothing and shoes.[15]
Making Important Decisions
1 Discuss lifestyle choices. If there are certain
lifestyle choices that you have made for your child, it
is important to discuss these with your co-parent and
come to an agreement that you are both happy with.
For example, you may want to ensure that your child
eats a healthy diet while staying with your co-
parent.[16]
You may also make certain provisions regarding the
co-parent's lifestyle choices. For example, you may
request that your co-parent not smoke around your
child.[17]
2 Agree on rules, responsibilities, and
discipline. It's very important that you and your co-
parent be consistent with your expectations and
disciplinary methods. Have a detailed conversation
about what you expect of your child and how you will
deal with it if your child fails to meet those
expectations.[18]
If your child has a curfew, be sure that it is the same
at both households. Also discuss under what
circumstances your child is allowed to go out without
parental supervision (if any).
Discuss other rules as well, including those
regarding phone, internet, and television usage.
Decide what the consequences will be if your child
violates the rules of the household, and implement
them consistently.
If your child has chores, talk to your co-parent about
implementing the same or similar chores in the other
household.
3 Develop a plan for approaching religion and
cultural heritage. If you and the other parent have
different religions and heritages, decide if you want
to teach your child both. Make a decision that you
can both agree on.[19]
If you have different religions, you may decide to
educate the child about both.
If one parent practices their religion more than the
other, you may decide to teach your child only about
that one religion
4 Have a plan for schooling. Whether you agree to
public schooling, private schooling, or
homeschooling, determine which type of schooling
you want for your child. If you have not chosen a
school yet, you may want to discuss with your co-
parent how you will go about making this decision
when the time comes.
Note also how you will be dealing with parent
teacher conferences. You can take turns attending,
or both parents can attend together. Another option
would be to make arrangements with the teacher to
attend all the conferences separately.
Make a note in your parenting strategy regarding
receiving information and school grades from the
school. Again, you can arrange for one person to
receive everything and make copies for the other, or
you can ask the school to send you both the same
information.
Decide who will be attending school events. You can
choose to take turns or have one person attend all
the events. Make a decision that you are both happy
with.
Also consider how you will pay for your child's
college education when the time comes. You may
want to establish guidelines regarding how much
each parent is willing to contribute.[20]
5 Determine who will attend to the child's medical
needs. Talk with your co-parent about your child's
medical care, including how you will select doctors,
who will attend appointments, and what the protocol
should be in the case of emergencies.[21]
If both you and the other parent work, you may
decide to take turns taking your child to medical
appointments. The other option is to establish
responsibility depending on who has custody of the
child at the time.
These decisions are especially important if your child
has special medical needs. It's very important that
both parents be on the same page when it comes to
care and treatment.
6 Decide how you will handle future decisions. It is
inevitable that other things will come up that are not
included in your parenting plan. For this reason, it's
a good idea to have a general understanding of how
you and your co-parent will go about making future
decisions. For example, you might agree that you
will not make any major decisions without consulting
the other parent, and that you will discuss the issues
in person.
Putting Your Parenting Plan in Writing
1 Decide if you need to go to court. In some cases,
co-parents are perfectly capable of agreeing on a
parenting plan without any help. However, this does
not work for everyone. If you can't come to an
agreement with your co-parent about one or more
issues, you may need to go to family court to resolve
the issue. The judge will make a decision and issue
an order that will enforce the parenting plan.[22]
In some jurisdictions, you may be required to file a
parenting plan with the courts if you plan on sharing
custody of a minor child. Check with your local family
court to find out if this applies to you.[23]
2 Write everything down. Writing a parenting plan is
no small task. It will require a significant time
commitment from both you and your co-partner. Try
to coordinate a time when the two of you can sit
down and discuss all aspects of child rearing. Write
everything down, including the smallest details. This
will help prevent confusion later on.
Make sure each of you has a copy of the parenting
plan.
3 Sign the plan. Signing the parenting plan
demonstrates that you are both committing to
adhering to the agreement that you came up with.
Even if you are not filing the document with the
courts, it's still a good idea to have both parties sign
it.
If you are required to file your parenting plan with the
courts, you will need to both sign the document in
front of a notary public.[24]
4 Be willing to amend your plan. As children age,
plans will need to adapt to their needs. When
developing a parenting plan, it's important to keep in
mind that just because a certain arrangement works
now, does not mean it will work forever. Be flexible
and willing to talk about changing the plan whenever
it seems necessary.[25]
You may want to create a schedule for reviewing
and revising the plan with your child's other parent,
but it's still a good idea to be open to discussing it
whenever the need arises.
Potty Training In 3 Days
Guaranteed Potty Training Methods -
97% Success Rate With Fast Results.
View more http://bit.ly/1pE9hPq