Parenting Plans
Parenting Plans are usually a significant part of a Separation / Divorce Agreement. Parenting Plans can be simple or complex, depending on the parents’ wishes, emotional maturity, personalities and the needs of the children.
Typical paragraphs included in Parenting Plans:
- The values both parents choose when raising their children.
- Who will make decisions over healthcare, education, extraordinary activities / expenses and decisions regarding the religious upbringing of the children?
- A residential parenting schedule, including drop-off and pickup times, schedules for each child especially when the children are at different stages of development, and sometimes after-school and dinner schedules. Vacations, religious holidays, permission to travel, children’s activities and any other parenting decisions, are included. It’s important to remember that children continue to change as they pass through one stage of development into the next. Consistency and flexibility are both IMPORTANT.
This is your chance to establish new home and family rules. It’s a “do-over” in many ways. Become optimistic about your new family’s future while respecting the values that you and your ex have agreed to.
Remember, children only have one childhood. Make it count.
When Parents Do Well, Children Do Well
