Your children are your most prized possession so you need to make sure that you have things together when it comes to your child custody agreement. There are many different points that you need to think about when you are coming to terms of your agreement with your ex.
Many people today are using the co-parenting model of child custody to handle things regarding the children. Choosing this option means that you and your ex will have to work closely together to come up with rules and other specifics that govern the child’s life.
Discuss the schedule for the upcoming months
You and your ex need to sit down with a calendar to figure out when your children will spend time with each parent alone. You also need to determine which events will be spent as a team: both parents with the child. For example, if your child plays sports, parents and their significant others, might all attend the games.
While it might be possible to discuss things far off into the future, it is usually a good idea to have one of these meetings every few months to make sure that everyone is on the same page about the schedule. The goal is to make sure that the children have all of the parental support they need and that they are able to get to functions they need to attend.
Talk about the money
Children are expensive and there is a good chance that both parents will need to kick in extra money to get the children everything they need. Talking to your ex now can take the stress out of money matters later. Some examples of the expenses to think about now include extracurricular activities, uninsured medical expenses, schooling expenses and clothing costs.
One important thing to consider is how shared expenses will be handled. If one parent is going to pay the expense, you need to determine how the other parent will pay the money back. Will this be done immediately or on a regular schedule?
Plan communication
Deciding now how you will communicate with each other can help avoid misunderstandings. While many matters need in-person or voice discussions, it might be a good idea to text or email a recap of what was discussed just so that you and your ex have a record of what was agreed upon.
Co-parenting isn’t always an easy journey, but the rewards are usually great. As you and your ex work out the specifics, remember that respect and compromise go a long way.
