A parenting plan is a blueprint for parents who share children but live separately. A thoughtful and comprehensive parenting plan can ease the children’s transition when parents establish separate households and help ex-spouses work together to raise their children cooperatively.
Creating a parenting plan in Southbury requires time, focus, a willingness to set differences aside for the betterment of the children, and an understanding of the law. Our seasoned attorneys can help you negotiate a workable plan and present it to the court for approval.
Physical custody, where the children live, can be primarily with one parent, or parents can share time roughly equally. Parents opting for shared physical custody should live close enough together that transporting the children from school and activities to each parent’s home will not impose a burden on the children.
Legal custody refers to the authority to make decisions on issues such as healthcare, education, and religion. Connecticut courts favor joint legal custody if parents communicate well enough to share this responsibility. In some cases, one parent may have sole legal custody. However, the other parent is entitled to be informed of significant decisions and retains access to the child’s health and education records.
Connecticut family law presupposes that children benefit from significant contact with each parent. A parent who wishes to limit the other parent’s contact with, and influence on, the children should speak candidly with a child custody attorney. A legal professional can review the evidence supporting limited contact and help the parent develop realistic physical and legal custody expectations.
A parenting plan establishes expectations for how the parents will work together. A court reviewing a parenting plan will examine whether the parents have considered how they will cooperate to support the best interests of their children.
The plan should include details about who is responsible for transportation each day of the week and who provides meals on days when the children change residences. Parents should also discuss how they want to handle the children’s contact with third parties such as grandparents, extended family, and significant others.
Parents should decide how to resolve disagreements. Some couples give each parent the final say on specific issues, while others may decide to take a dispute to mediation or arbitration. A Southbury family law attorney can offer suggestions and help parents incorporate their preferred dispute resolution method into their parenting plan.
Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-56a governs parenting plans. The law requires parents to submit a parenting plan to the court for approval. When parents submit a joint plan, the court will approve it unless the judge feels it is not in the children’s best interests.
When parents disagree, each must submit their preferred parenting plan, and the judge will either choose between them or impose a different plan that best supports the children’s interests.
A parenting plan devised jointly by the parents ensures they maintain control of critical aspects of their children’s lives, as opposed to relinquishing that control to a judge. A Southbury lawyer can help parents who disagree about certain aspects of a parenting plan resolve their differences and submit a joint plan to the court.
It can be challenging for parents to work together to develop a parenting plan, especially when they are in the midst of conflict. An experienced lawyer can help parents focus and develop a joint parenting plan.
Contact us for assistance when you are creating a parenting plan in Southbury. We can help with all aspects of custody.
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