Parenting Plan
What is a parenting plan? A parenting plan or custody agreement is usually created during the divorce or separation process and included with the other legal documents that are filed with the courts. In the parenting plan, parents will agree to many aspects of how their parent responsibilities will be handled.
These aspects may include parenting schedules, vacations, overnights and exchanges in the schedule, as well as authority and permission needed to make school, medical and other important child related decisions. The parenting plan may also cover financial issues such as school tuition, child support and other expenses related to the child.
These plans are implemented whether you have no child custody, but visitation rights or completely equal shared custody. When parents do not comply with the parenting plans, often the court will step in and either modify the parenting plan to better meet the needs of the child or implement a parenting plan of its own. The needs and best interest of the child are always core to the court when making these adjustments.
Many families are turning to online tools like the OurFamilyWizard website to better manage the implementation of their parenting plans. Online tools like the OurFamilyWizard website make meeting your parenting plan obligations not only easier, but also much more transparent. Which will hopefully result in fewer return trips to court.
NOTE: Many state and federal laws use terms like ‘custody’ when referring to arrangements regarding parenting time and decision-making for a child. While this has been the case for many years, these are not the only terms currently used to refer to these topics.
Today, many family law practitioners and even laws within certain states use terms such as ‘parenting arrangements’ or ‘parenting responsibility,’ among others, when referring to matters surrounding legal and physical child custody. You will find these terms as well as custody used on the OurFamilyWizard website.