Child Custody Plans And You

Posted on April 11, 2013 by About The Children LLC — 4 Comments

A lot of parents are left scratching their heads about what to do about the custody arrangement they have with the mother or father of their children. Whether you’re still hammering out the details of your parenting agreement or having second thoughts after the fact, the fact remains that the arrangement you have needs to work for everyone, especially the children involved. So how do you choose a plan that’s right for you? That’s the million dollar question folks. Really, this comes down to you guys being able to work something out on a mutual basis; the situation changes if one parent is unfit, a large distance separates everyone or both parents simply can’t get along.

What You Can Do About It. The last thing you want to do is sit on your hands about this. If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t like confrontations, and the only way to get anywhere is to confront your ex about the issue, you need to find a way to deal with this issue. The first thing you should be doing, especially if you’re trying to settle this out of court, is to assess the entire situation and base a custody or visitation schedule around that. If you work nights or the children have after school activities, draw up an arrangement that reflects everyone’s needs.
In The Best Interests Of The Children. The main thing to keep in mind, if you’re going through the court process, is to propose something that is reasonable. What this means is that you should be trying to go for an arrangement that the judge will find favorable in regards to what’s best for the children. The whole idea here is to make a decision for your kids because they can’t, and in some cases shouldn’t have to, make these decisions themselves; that’s why you’re a parent. If both parents are stable, have good jobs etc. but simply can’t agree to anything themselves, you’re kind of at the mercy of the judge who will have to take a look at the facts of the case and make a decision based on that. If you know that you’re not going to be able to come to an agreement with your ex, coming prepared with a proposed parenting plan that reflects a joint shared custody schedule will be better than having to leave that to someone else, namely the judge.

Obviously this isn’t a perfect world and nobody is asking you to bend over backwards, well maybe for your kids, but the whole idea is to get something written down on paper and recognized, legally, so that your child’s needs and rights are protects, as well as yours. Having a custody agreement in place protects you from your ex coming back in two months and changing their mind. If you have a legally binding agreement that is recognized by the court, there is no reason to worry about things unless something needs to be modified later on down the line. Either way, what you’re doing is protecting your child’s environment, mentally and physically, and ensuring that their best interests are at the heart of whatever arrangement you make.

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