For divorcing parents, developing a post-divorce parenting plan is a critical step. Not only is this mandatory under Arizona law, but it is also essential for meeting their children’s needs and mitigating their risk of facing child-related disputes in the years ahead.
Like all aspects of the divorce process, developing a post-divorce parenting plan requires a custom-tailored approach. Every family’s circumstances are unique, and what is in the best interests of a couple’s children depends on the specific circumstances at hand. Working closely with an experienced divorce attorney who can help you make informed decisions while guiding you step-by-step through the process is essential.
Important Issues to Address When Developing a Parenting Plan During Your Divorce
When you hire an experienced divorce lawyer to assist you with developing a post-divorce parenting plan, your lawyer will help you consider all the issues involved. This includes, but is by no means limited to, the following:
1. Parental Rights
Both parents will be entitled to various rights after their divorce, which should be clearly stated in their parenting plan. For example, it is pretty standard for both parents to have rights, including:
- The right to be kept fully informed about their children’s health
- The right to be kept fully informed about their children’s education
- The right to have access to all health and education-related records
- The right to have access to their children’s healthcare providers’ contact information
- The right to make decisions about essential child-related matters during their parenting time
Again, these are just examples. When developing a parenting plan, you must consider all of your options and ensure that the plan serves your children’s best interests and adequately meets your needs as a parent.
2. Parental Responsibilities
A post-divorce parenting plan should establish parental rights and various parental responsibilities. While many of these responsibilities will relate to the abovementioned rights (e.g., the obligation to share information about a child’s medical care openly), both parents may benefit from formally establishing various other duties.
3. The Daily (or Weekly) Routine
When most people think about a post-divorce parenting plan, they think about the daily (or weekly) routine. This is a core component of an effective parenting plan, and it is a component that warrants significant and careful consideration.
While some parents may be familiar with an every-other-weekend routine from their childhood, post-divorce parenting schedules can take various forms these days. The first step is determining whether you and your spouse will share equal or unequal parenting time after divorce. Then, once you know how much time each of you will spend with your children after your divorce, you can focus on developing a routine that serves your children’s best interests (as required by Arizona law).
4. Holidays and Birthdays
The daily (or weekly) routine you and your spouse develop during your divorce should work most of the time. But there will be exceptions when it makes sense not to follow your regular schedule.
Birthdays and holidays are two examples. Just as there are various options for developing a regular schedule, there are multiple ways to address birthdays, holidays, and other special events. Here, the key is to be clear and comprehensive and develop a plan that serves your children’s best interests while adequately addressing your (and your spouse’s) respective wants and needs.
5. School Breaks and Vacations
School breaks and vacations warrant special consideration as well. Along with addressing parenting time during school breaks and holidays, divorcing parents should also address any requirements or conditions for traveling with their children after their divorce. How much advance notice is required? Are there restrictions on where you can both travel with your children? Will the parent who isn’t traveling have the right to speak with their children over the phone during the trip? These types of questions are essential to answer in advance so you don’t run into issues.
6. Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities may also warrant deviations from the standard daily (or weekly) schedule. This includes after-school activities that require transportation, games, performances, recitals, and other events that both parents would like to attend. Similar to the other aspects of post-divorce parenting discussed above, there isn’t necessarily a “right” or “wrong” answer. Instead, the key is to develop a plan that works for both of you and will likely continue to work for both of you for years to come.
7. Emergencies, Temporary Deviations, and Permanent Changes
Emergencies and other unforeseen circumstances may require a temporary deviation from parents’ routine schedules and additional coordination or communication between the parents. To help avoid delays and other unnecessary issues, divorcing parents should do their best to anticipate these unforeseen circumstances and implement contingency plans.
While parents can temporarily deviate from their agreed-upon parenting plans to address unforeseen circumstances, making permanent changes generally requires a more formal approach. To ensure that both parties can efficiently seek changes when necessary, divorcing parents should typically include provisions for requesting and securing approval of modifications to their parenting plans.
To be clear, while these are some of the most important aspects of a post-divorce parenting plan, these are not the only issues divorcing parents need to consider. A comprehensive and custom-tailored approach is key. If you are considering a divorce in Arizona, we invite you to contact us for more information.
Request a Free Consultation with Phoenix Divorce Lawyer Adam Weingart Today
Are you preparing to go through a divorce with children in Arizona? If so, we invite you to contact us for more information. To request a free consultation with Phoenix divorce lawyer Adam Weingart, please call 480-542-0099 or tell us how we can reach you online today.