Having a parenting plan in place is the best possible way to comfortably navigate a custody arrangement. Anyone knows that divorce can be difficult, but it is perhaps most difficult for young children who can get caught in the middle of an expensive and emotionally trying custody battle. If you and your spouse have decided on joint custody, congratulations, you are cooperating to give your child the best future he or she deserves. When preparing your plan for making this major life transition, here are a few child visitation guidelines to ease the transition of your child splitting time between parents.
There are a lot of options for creating your visitation schedule. You and your spouse can sit down and hash out an agreement that is beneficial to your child and works best with both of your careers and lifestyles. Alternatively, you can work with your attorney to discuss what is most important to you, then have them create it and work with your spouse's attorney to come to an agreement on visitation.
Visitation Considerations
As you think about your schedule, spend some time and effort thinking about what visitation set up will benefit your child, minimizing interruptions to their schooling. You will want to consider the age and maturity of the child, as well as how he or she adapts to new situations emotionally and socially. The location and other time commitments of each parent must also be taken into consideration, but should be secondary to the child's schooling and relationships with both parents, any siblings, and other loved ones.
Three Types of Visitation Schedules
You will need a visitation schedule to handle all of the following contingencies. By carefully planning each schedule and working with your former spouse and their attorney, you stand a better chance of giving your child the best environments to grow up happy, healthy, and with the best future possible.
Residential Schedule
The residential schedule is the one used weekly, and is typically balanced around the child's school week. The biggest decision with this schedule is where the child will live and call home. In a sole custody arrangement the child will live with one parent, and may spend weekends with the other parent if visitation has been granted. Joint custody schedules are as varied as the families that keep them. Sometimes the child will spend a week at a time with either parent, other times they will only spend the weekends with one and live with the other during the week.
Holiday Schedule
The holiday schedule dictates where your child will spend holidays. It can be difficult to spend time away from your children during holidays, but each parent should get roughly the same amount of holiday time per year. Some parents who live in close proximity might be able to allow the child to spend time with both parents during holidays. By working out your schedule in advance you can avoid future disputes and avoid putting your child in the middle of a custody argument.
Vacation and Special Event Time
This refers to both your vacation time from work as well as the child's summer and winter vacations, and fall and spring breaks. During these periods, your child has a lot of time away from school that could serve as critical bonding time with their non-residential parent, or the parent with whom they live.
If you cover these three periods, you will be well on your way to crafting a parenting plan that will be as easy on your child as possible. Helping your child avoid the stress and trauma associated with divorce should be your primary concern. Click here for more information on how you can prepare your custody and divorce arrangement with your child's best interests in mind.
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