Consider These 4 Factors In Your Parenting Plan

New York requires divorced couples to create a parenting plan that outlines how they will raise their child together. The court must approve of your plan for it to go into effect.

1. Moving restrictions

You may want to define specific rules around a parent moving. This could apply to both parents or the custodial parent, depending on your situation. You may want to require at least 15 days of notice before they move to a new house. However, be aware that if they serve in the military, federal law has protections in place for them. You can’t prevent them from relocating when the military is transferring them to a new location or deploying them. Their child custody rights remain intact as well.

2. Communication

You might want to set rules for how you can communicate with your child and how often when they are spending time with their other parent. A common conflict that parents have is interrupted quality time with their kid. This is particularly true for those who only have visitation rights instead of joint custody.

Another issue to bring up with your former spouse is whether you have the right to know where your child is at any time. Some people don’t like having to inform their former spouse. Others feel stressed if they don’t know what they’re doing. You may also want to set guidelines for how you will communicate with your ex-spouse and during what hours.

3. Discipline

You and your former spouse might have different perspectives on the right way to discipline your child. It’s important to negotiate a plan for discipline and stick to the agreement. Inconsistency in rules and the enforcement of them is damaging to a child’s development.

4. Conflict resolution

No matter how well you think out your parenting plan, conflict could arise. Circumstances change, and you could have forgotten something. Thus, you may want to create a process for how you and your former spouse will resolve conflict.

An effective parenting plan covers relocation rules, communication, discipline and conflict resolution. You are likely to have a much more peaceful experience co-parenting when you take the time to find a middle ground on these issues and have the agreement legally enforced.