Making a Custody Agreement that Works

It is extremely important to have a child custody agreement if you are divorced or separated and have children. You may be wondering, though, how to make an effective custody agreement that benefits everyone involved. What are the main components of an agreement for custody? Let's take a look at what makes an effective agreement.

1. A custody and visitation schedule: This schedule is also known as a repeating cycle of custody or everyday schedule. It should detail how the children spend their time everyday. It must be detailed in order for it to be effective.

2. A schedule for holidays, vacations, school breaks and special events: You should have a plan for vacations, holidays, special events and school breaks in addition to a regular schedule. It should include a list of holidays important to your children, vacation times and school break times and special and one-time events your children attend. This schedule takes precedence over the everyday schedule.

3. Provisions or rules: Provisions are guidelines that help make a custody agreement more effective. These are rules that parents agree to help make sharing parental responsibilities easier. You may have provisions about legal custody and decision-making, how changes are made to the agreement, how transportation and exchanges work, right of first refusal, that parents do not speak negatively about each other in front of the children and how disagreements are resolved. Other provisions to the agreement may be included to detail information about the children's medical and educational needs, what activities they are allowed to participate in and whether parents can smoke or drink alcohol in the presence of the children.

4. Information about child support and other expenses: This is information about when child support payments are made, who pays them and and how much is paid. It is also a good idea to include information about expenses that need to be paid that are not covered by child support. Extra expenses may include sports fees, fees for extracurricular activities, money for extra clothes, health insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses.

5. Extra information that will help in child-raising: Any information that has not already been included in your custody agreement that will help you in raising your children should be added to make the agreement most effective.

Creating an effective child custody agreement should be the goal of every divorced or separated parent. A custody agreement detail how and when the parents spend time with their children and how parents share parenting responsibilities. You can develop and use a successful child custody agreement and be a good parent. Having a custody agreement can help you create the best possible living situation for your children.