To become good co-parents soon, you and your soon-to-be former spouse may make the conscious decision to remain amicable throughout your divorce. This may mean opting for alternative divorce methods outside the courtroom and working together to dream up a comprehensive parenting plan that works in your child’s best interest. Without further ado, please follow along to find out the questions you and your spouse should answer in your parenting plan and how a proficient New York City child custody attorney at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can work to ensure you do not leave any issues unaddressed.
What questions should a parenting plan answer?
Firstly, a parenting plan is a legally binding document addressing how you and your soon-to-be former spouse will raise your shared child after divorce. Within this plan, you and your spouse must provide comprehensive answers to the following issues:
- Your and your spouse’s custody and parenting time:
- Who will get physical custody and legal custody of your child?
- Who will spend weekends, holidays, school breaks, etc., with your child?
- Your and your spouse’s financial responsibilities:
- Who will be the child support payor and recipient?
- What childcare services will be used, and who will cover their costs?
- Your and your spouse’s communication methods:
- How often will you communicate updates about the child during your scheduled parenting time?
- When and how will you contact your spouse if there is an emergency with your child during your parenting time?
- Your and your spouse’s personal lives post-divorce:
- Are you allowed to move primary residences with your child in the future?
- Are you allowed to introduce your new partner to your child in the future?
Can I modify my parenting plan in the future?
It is worth mentioning that even if you and your spouse settle your parenting plan outside of court, you may still need to get court approval. Otherwise, it may not be legally enforceable should your spouse ever violate it or should you ever modify it.
That said, while your parenting plan may have worked in the initial aftermath of your divorce, you may find it no longer serves your child’s best interest. As an example, say that you moved primary residences with your child. Now, your commute to take them to your spouse’s scheduled parenting time may take too long, which may subsequently take a toll on their schoolwork, extracurricular activities, relationships with friends, and more.
Well, hopefully for you, you and your spouse may have addressed how to propose, communicate, and work through amending your parenting plan in your existing legal document. If not, you may still attempt to navigate making these modifications amicably. But if your spouse proves unable or unwilling to negotiate a new plan, you may unfortunately have to go as far as filing a motion for a modification with the New York State family court. Here, they may make an official ruling on the issue at hand.
Before entering these proceedings, you should have already hired a talented New York City modification & enforcement attorney to represent you. So, if you have not done so already, please contact Zimmet Law Group, P.C. today.
