Don’t Overlook These Provisions When Drafting Your Parenting Plan

Parenting plans must contain time-sharing schedules, as well as details about how two parents will make important decisions about their child’s healthcare, education, religion, and general upbringing. It can be easy, however, when drafting these agreements to overlook certain provisions. One of the best ways to ensure that this doesn’t happen to you is to start working with an experienced child custody attorney as soon as possible.

Parental Alienation

Whatever the feelings between two former spouses, their children deserve to have a relationship with each parent without the other’s interference. To this end, many parents choose to include a provision in their parenting plan that forbids either party from taking any direct or indirect action that would estrange the child from the other parent. By including this provision, a parent will have legal recourse if he or she discovers that a former partner is attempting to damage his or her relationship with the couple’s child.

The Child’s Appearance

Some Florida families also benefit from including a clause in their parenting plan that limits the parents’ ability to make major changes to a child’s appearance without the other party’s written or verbal consent. This type of provision would, for instance, prohibit one parent from getting a child’s ears pierced without the other’s input.

Time-Sharing

It isn’t uncommon for one parent, who still has negative feelings towards a former partner, to impede that person’s visitation by scheduling events and activities during that parent’s scheduled time. To prevent this, parents can include a provision in their parenting plan that bars the parties from enrolling the child in extracurricular activities without each other’s consent.

Electronics

Using tablets, computers, and smartphones has become the norm for many children, so it’s important for parents to discuss how they will handle their child’s access to and use of electronic devices in their parenting plan. Such a clause could, for instance, bar a parent from purchasing the child a phone until he or she reaches a certain age, could dictate allowable usage time, and could state who will be responsible for paying monthly fees for the devices.

Court Intervention

Parents can also pre-determine how they will resolve issues should they arise at a later date. For instance, many families include a provision that requires the parents to attempt mediation or hire a parenting coordinator to help resolve disagreements about time-sharing or other parenting-related issues. Staying out of court can keep the conflict from escalating and can save the parties both time and money.

Do You Need Help Customizing Your Parenting Plan?

Creating a parenting plan that fits a family’s lifestyle and is in a child’s best interests often proves to be one of the most difficult aspects of divorce. Fortunately, you don’t have to go through this process alone, but could benefit from the assistance of an experienced attorney. For help customizing your own parenting plan, please call dedicated Fort Lauderdale child visitation and time-sharing lawyer Sandra Bonfiglio, P.A. at 954-945-7591 today.

Sources:

jud12.flcourts.org/About/Divisions/Family/Pro-Se-Forms-Instructions/Parenting-Plans

floridarevenue.com/childsupport/parenting_time_plans/Pages/default.aspx