Avoiding Conflict Successfully: Utilizing a Parenting Plan After Divorce

parenting plan after divorce children

By Fatima Virrey , Parent Herald Oct 14, 11:32 am

A successful parenting plan can help ensure the conflict will be avoided after the divorce.

At first, divorce feels like a win or lose situation. One parent may seem to have it all on paper, while the other parent struggles to make ends meet.

Most of the time, the parent who seems to have it all finds that they have little time to spend with their kids, while the latter is with their kids all the time.

Whether this applies to you or not, finding a balance in your family is essential to every family in creating a successful parenting plan. The detailed schedule where each parent is on duty and which is off duty.

To help you, here are six basic steps in creating the perfect successful parenting plan.

Understand your child's best interests

To have a successful parenting plan, you should know what your child likes, wants, and what would be best for them and their well-being. Their best interest is important since this also includes their physical and emotional needs. Also, make sure that you know other factors that can affect your child's best interest, like the distance between parents' homes, distance from each home to their school friends, and your work schedules.

Choose a parenting schedule that works.

This schedule will dictate your family's new routine and give all of you an idea of how much time your child will spend with you and your co-parent. It is important in creating your successful parenting plan, so you need to find a schedule that works for your family and be sure to stick to it.

Have a communication plan

As part of making your successful parenting plan, make sure that you know how you and your co-parent will stay in touch and share updates about your child. As for your child, you can do video calls or daily phone calls when you are apart.

Know how to make big decisions and handle legal custody

Major life decisions that include your child are not ones that you can take lightly. So, if you and your co-parent share legal custody, make a plan for how you will handle decisions together. Also, have a plan for important decisions that must be made in an emergency.

Go over your child's finances.

Child support is often done to help cover the essential living costs plus some extras for a child, which can be very important if one parent has more to offer financially than the other. Make sure that you are clear about what your child support payments will cover. You can also speak to your lawyer about one-on-one guidance on your parenting plan.

Maintain your goals

When your parenting plan is done, and in motion, it is the time to keep your goals in mind to help you make your perfect plan a success today and into the future. Imagining how you want your child to look back on this time of their life can help you in doing so. Aim your goals in creating a cooperative and flexible co-parenting partnership. Your child deserves to have a strong and healthy relationship with you and their other parent.