What Should I Include in My Parenting Plan?
Child Custody and Support Lawyers Serving Greenwich, Fairfield, CT & the Surrounding Areas
A parenting plan is an agreement reached by parents concerning the care and custody of their child or children.
Parenting plans can be temporary or final. In order for the court to approve a parenting plan, it must find that the parenting plan is in the minor children’s best interests. However, a final parenting plan can always be modified by the court if a substantial change in circumstances has occurred rendering the parenting plan no longer in the minor children’s best interests.
At a minimum, a parenting plan needs to address two important topics: legal custody and physical custody.
- Legal custody addresses which parent will make the major decisions for the children. Major decisions can include decisions affecting the children’s health, education, and religion. Parents with joint legal custody are expected and required to confer and obtain the other parent’s consent before making any major decisions for their children. Most parents share joint legal custody of their children.
- Physical Custody addresses when the children are with each parent. Generally, this schedule will be determined based on a number of factors, including the children’s ages, the availability of each parent to be with the children, and where each parent lives. There is not necessarily a standard plan. Often, the plan is case-specific.
In addition to addressing physical and legal custody, parenting plans often address a number of other topics, such as:
- Holidays. What holidays are shared and celebrated by the parents and children? Often times, one parent celebrates certain holidays with the children in odd-numbered years, and the other parent celebrates those same holidays with the children in even-numbered years.
- Procedures for pick ups and drop offs between the parents’ residences. Will one parent handle the pick ups and the other drop offs? Will the parents meet in between their residences? Will the children always be transitioned at school or at a different location such as a rest stop or police station?
- Travel requirements. Under what circumstances can a parent and the children travel domestically or internationally? Is notice to and consent of the non-traveling parent required? Who will hold the children’s passports?
- Makeup time. If a parent is unable to exercise his or her time due to business travel, illness or otherwise, is that parent entitled to makeup time with the children? If so, how will that time be determined?
- Dispute resolution procedures. If the parents are unable to agree on a major issue concerning a child, will they attempt to resolve it outside of court by mediating with a counselor?
- Relocation. How far can one parent move from his or her current residence? If one parent is able to move, what, if any, notification is required?
- Communication between the co-parents. Are the parents able to communicate by standard texting, e-mailing or calls, or do their communication challenged warrant the use of a program such as OurFamilyWizard or AppClose?
- Communication between the children and parents. How will the children communicate with the noncustodial parent when they are with the custodial parent? Sometimes, parenting plans mandate a scheduled call between the children and parent.
Contact Our Family Law Firm Today to Discuss Your Child Custody Case
The benefit of entering into a parenting plan is that the parents can be as general or specific as their individual family situation requires. However, when drafting and enforcing a parenting plan, it is important to remember that a parenting plan is essentially a contract regarding the parenting of your children. It is impossible to predict all of the instances that could arise regarding the children or parents. Therefore, it is important to remember that in some situations, creativity or flexibility is required in order for the parents to have a successful co-parenting relationship. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the health and happiness of your child. Divorce and mutual legal separations can be hard for kids of any age to understand, which is why working with a trusted family law firm should be the first step towards preparing for a divorce. With years of experience helping individuals and couples that are filing for divorce, our professional divorce lawyers understand the ins and outs of Connecticut law to best represent our clients, especially when the case involves child custody, visitation, and support.
For specific questions related to your case or your children, contact the child custody and support lawyers of Ferro, Battey & Eucalitto, LLC for more information. Based in Darien, CT, our family law firm is proud to assist those throughout Westport, Stamford, Greenwich, New Canaan, Fairfield, CT, and the surrounding areas of Fairfield County. We’d be happy to meet with you in person to go over your options and discuss the benefits a parenting plan can have on the overall well-being of your children.
