A parenting agreement can save you in the long run
Are you preparing for the divorce process? Do you have at least one child with the other individual? Are you concerned about what this will mean to the way you raise your child in the future?
Like most people in this situation, your child or children will be your top priority. You don’t want to do anything that could harm your child now or down the road.
Once you work through all issues related to child custody, support and visitation, you will need to finalize the agreement in writing. This is where a parenting agreement comes into play.
Creating a parenting agreement can be challenging, but it’s a bit easier to get things done when you know what you should include. Some of the most important inclusions are as follows:
- The parent who will have physical custody of the child
- The parent who will have legal custody of the child (this can be both)
- The visitation schedule for the parent without physical custody
- A schedule that outlines where the child will spend holidays, vacations, birthdays and any other important events in their life
- A system for contact with other family members, such as grandparents, children from a previous marriage, and uncles and aunts
- An outline of how to deal with any future changes to the parenting agreement
These are among the more important things to include in a parenting agreement, but this doesn’t mean you should overlook anything else that is essential to the relationship with your child.
You shouldn’t expect everything to go as planned when creating a parenting agreement. Instead, you should realize up front that you will have to talk things through with your former spouse, while keeping in mind that you will probably have to compromise on some details.
When you know what it takes to create a parenting agreement, as well as your legal rights as a parent, you’ll find it much easier to make informed and confident decisions that will work in favor of you and your child in the future.
