Co-parenting can be a challenge, and for this reason many families decide to set up an official parenting plan after divorce. A parenting plan refers to a written document that sets up parameters for the custodial agreement you will have with your spouse after a divorce.
Parenting plans can solve a lot of problems before they start. According to ReGain, a good parenting plan can help you avoid unpleasant surprises and help you avoid fights.
What surprises can parenting plans prevent?
Parenting plans give you the ability to make agreements with your ex-spouse regarding how you will raise your children separately. Essentially, a parenting plan will ensure that everybody is enforcing the same rules and taking a similar approach.
For instance, you may wish to address the matter of your child’s appearance. You can put clauses in the parenting plan regarding whether or not one parent can do things like give the child an extreme haircut or allow piercings.
How can a parenting plan help avoid fights?
The biggest thing a parenting plan might do for you and your ex-spouse is stop arguments before they begin. With a comprehensive parenting plan, nobody can claim ignorance. If you do have a clause in your parenting plan that prevents extreme haircuts, for example, your ex-spouse cannot claim that he or she thought you would not care if your child came home with a shaved head.
Parenting plans can also outline where the child spends specific holidays, what religion you will raise the child in, and much more. When the plan is all laid out openly and enforced by the law, you do not need to argue with your ex-spouse.