Maxwell Hills | June 5, 2024 | Divorce

Getting a divorce makes you feel a lot of emotions, especially when you have kids. One of the toughest things for parents is figuring out a plan for who gets to take care of the kids and when. 

You feel worried about making all these decisions about how to raise your kids with your ex. But if you’re struggling with this issue, don’t worry. We’re here to help you. 

In this blog, we’ll talk about how to make the best parenting plan that works well for both parents and kids.

Parents Should Should Know Their Needs, Wants, and Demands

First, both parents need to talk honestly about what they want and need. This makes sure that everyone’s ideas are heard when making a plan. It also solves any problems before making final decisions.

If you want to make a good plan that works for everyone, you must know what each person cares about most. For this, you need to think about what’s important to you and what you can be flexible about.

When parents talk about the plan, they must know their needs, wants, and demands. They should prepare a list of questions and understand everyone’s concerns. 

Establish a Communication Channel for the Parenting Plan 

Before making any plan, it is important to create a proper communication channel so that if there are any problems later on, you can talk about them.

You need to create proper guidelines if you don’t do this, the plan will not work smoothly in the future. These rules should say how often you’ll talk, what you’ll talk about, and how you’ll fix any problems that come up.

If you and your ex don’t get along well, having more rules can help make sure you talk in a good way. If you and your ex are still friendly, you might not need many rules. 

Besides, you also can get help from technology. For example, you can parenting apps and can make customized plans. You can also decide to only talk by a special app. This way, you can prepare rules that will help you in your whole parenting plan. 

Decide Guidelines for Holidays and Special Occasions 

When making a parenting plan, you need to decide how to handle holidays and special days. Parents should talk about how they’ll share these times. For instance, they have to decide which parent will spend time on Christmas and where. In other words, they have to establish guidelines for holidays and special occasions. They might also talk about if they’ll celebrate days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or family birthdays.

Think About Child’s Best Interest Before Making Parenting Plan

As you know, California laws give importance to the best child’s interest and decide everything on this ground. So, it is also important to consider the child’s best interest when making a parenting plan. 

Remember one important thing,  the best parenting plan is a plan to make sure your kid is taken care of really well. You should think about what your kid’s daily routines are, and how they get along with each parent. If each parent can give them enough time and attention, he or she decides things accordingly. For example, if the kid is comfortable with the father, you must consider this factor when creating a parenting plan. 

Child Support and Financial Planning for Children 

When making a plan for taking care of the kids, you need to talk about child support and financial matters. 

Here are some things to think about:

• Child support should depend on how much each parent makes and how many kids there are.
• Parents should decide if they’ll share medical bills or if one parent will pay for everything.
• Figure out who will pay for things that insurance doesn’t cover.
• Decide how to pay each other.
• You must think about who will pay for things like school activities and school supplies.
• You also need to talk about financial arrangements. 
• You can use apps to track finances.

Plan for Kid’s Transportation & Expenses

You have to figure out a lot of logistic and transportation issues in your plan like:

• When and how the kid will go between houses
• Who will take them 
• If they have to travel far, who will pay
• How the kid will talk to the other parent when they’re not together
• How you’ll change the plan if you need to

Planning on Child Custody Sharing 

After separation or divorce, every parent has to face child custody issues. If you’re one of them, you must consult a professional child custody lawyer in Orage County, California. You also need to talk about how custody will be shared. 

As you have observed, most parents decide to share this responsibility so they can both keep helping their kids grow. But if one parent takes care of the kid most of the time, it might be better for them to have this responsibility. In that case, they don’t always have to ask the other parent before deciding.

Establish Rules to Modify Parenting Plan 

When you make a parenting plan, it’s important to have a way to change the plan if needed.

Here are some things to think about when setting up how to make changes:

• Think about things that might change, like if one parent gets married again how things will work, etc. 
• You need to decide how often you’ll talk about changing the plan.
• You also talk about who will start the conversation about changing the plan. For instance, one parent might tell the other if something needs to change.
• You also have to choose how long you’ll wait before changing the plan. It should be flexible but not too long so that important decisions don’t get delayed.
• You must make rules for how you’ll talk about changes so that you can talk nicely and get things done.
• Lastly, you also decide how you’ll tell each other if something happens in your family that might change the plan.

Contact Hills Law Group for Help In Orange County, CA

Both parents should have a family lawyer to help them make a plan that’s fair for both of them. If parents are worried they won’t agree, they can also get a mediator to help them talk and come up with a plan together.

Our lawyers at Hills Law Group are here to help families make good plans that help them move forward in a good way. We know making these plans can be hard, and we’ll be there to help at every step.