When parents come to an agreement on a detailed parenting plan that reflects the overall best interest of their child they will often enjoy a more stable, predictable, and consistent schedule by reducing the amount of misunderstandings, conflicts, and legal costs often associated with litigation and the courts. A parenting plan is a document that is created in the context of a child custody matter to help the parents outline a parenting schedule, which may include a description of their timeshare with their child and each parent’s responsibilities to raise their child.
How can parents and their children benefit from a detailed parenting plan? Creating a detailed parenting plan can provide predictability in the parenting schedule for both the parents and their child. This allows the parents to make plans for their child and implement a regular and consistent parenting routine for him/her. A child who knows in advance which parent he/she will be with and what he/she will be doing can feel more secure, stable, and self-confident than a child who is left constantly worrying and wondering where he/she will go and what he/she will be doing.
How can a detailed parenting plan reduce my legal costs? Having a detailed parenting plan can reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings between the parents and the conflicts parents often face with ambiguous parenting schedules. Having a detailed parenting plan can reduce the potential for disagreements between the parents thereby helping the parents stay out of court and away from litigation. Over time, parents who have a detailed parenting plan in place typically experience lower legal fees and attorney costs, which are often associated with high-conflict child custody disputes and protracted child custody litigation.
Although a detailed parenting plan will generally benefit both the parents and children involved in a divorce and child custody dispute, you would be wise to consult an attorney to learn where you stand legally on your particular matter and to learn if a detailed parenting plan is the best approach for your situation before entering into any sort of proposed parenting plan agreement.
© 2007 Child Custody Coach
Steven Carlson is the founder of Child Custody Coach. He is known nationally as The Custody Coach and provides individualized help and one-on-one coaching services to parents in the field of child custody and visitation issues, divorce, child custody evaluations, parenting, and attorney fee disputes. He is the author of the child custody E-Book strategy guide, “How to Win Child Custody - Proven Strategies that can Win You Custody and Save You Thousands in Attorney Cost!". He provides support for Custody Match, a Southern California consumer and family law attorney matching service. |
