Parenting plans and custody
A schedule your children can live with, in two homes
A parenting plan sets out where the children sleep, who takes them for winter break, and how the big decisions get made. A good one is specific enough that you don't have to renegotiate it every Friday.
I write plans around the calendar your family actually keeps: school, sports, a parent's shift work, the drive to grandparents in Idaho. When parents can agree, I put the agreement into terms a court will sign. When they can't, I prepare the case for mediation and, if needed, for a judge.
I help with
First parenting plans in a divorce
Plans for parents who never married
Changing a plan when life has changed
A parent who wants to move away
What a plan spells out
The parts of a parenting plan, in order
The school-year schedule
Which nights are where, and how the hand-offs happen.
Holidays and school breaks
Thanksgiving, winter and spring break, summer, birthdays, alternating or split.
Decision-making
School, health care and religion: made together, or by one parent.
A parent's move
What notice a parent gives before a move, and what happens if the other objects.
Settling disagreements
Mediation before court, so a dispute doesn't start with a motion.
Child support
Set alongside the plan, from both parents' incomes and the state's schedule.
What parents ask me at the first meeting
Will my children have to talk to the judge?
Rarely. In most cases a judge hears from the parents and sometimes from a neutral evaluator. Children are kept out of the courtroom wherever possible.
Is 50-50 the starting point?
There's no automatic split. A court looks at what has worked for the children so far and what will work from here. Many plans end up close to equal, many don't.
Can we change the plan later?
Small changes can be made by agreement. Bigger ones, like a new residential schedule, usually need a court order and a reason, such as a move or a real change in a child's needs.