I recently sat down and did a podcast with Leonard Florescue, a family law attorney at Blank Rome LLP, who advises clients primarily in complex matrimonial matters. We discussed the role parenting plans play in the divorce process.
Among the most important aspects of family law are custody and parenting plan issues. The family law practitioner is expected to take great care to work with his or her clients to create a viable parenting plan, which is an agreement between parents, who are either divorcing or who have never married.
In the simplest terms, a parenting plan establishes who will spend time with the children and when and under what circumstances. The parenting plan also determines who makes the major decisions about education, medical care and other important issues.
A good parenting plan is necessary in promoting harmony and alleviating stressful situations for both parents and children. There can be serious repercussions when parents have either a poorly though-out parenting plan or no plan at all.
In an organizational or government hierarchy, there’s a single person or group with the most power and authority, and each subsequent level represents a lesser authority. Parents must create a “hierarchy” of their own.
Time sharing is often a very stressful topic for parents. When outlining shared parenting schedules, parents must try their best to avoid potential areas of stress.
It’s also advisable for parents to create a formula for the events they are anticipating for the first years of the parenting plan’s existence.
I know parental death is a subject a lot of parents don’t want to consider, but we’re all mortal, and one or both parents may die during children’s minority. By incorporating clauses in a parenting plan that address times of tragedy in a family as the passing of a parent, conflicts over relatives spending time with the children can be pre-empted.
When the parents, for whatever reasons, can’t agree to a mutually agreed parenting schedule, the final arbiter in this situation is the Court.
To learn more about parenting plans, please listen to our podcast with Leonard.