What to Include in Child Custody Agreements
When you're served with divorce papers and there are children born of the marital relationship, it is an overwhelming experience. It is important that you get your emotions under control and begin to plan effectively for the future as a divorced parent.
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Plan
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Evaluate your expectations once the divorce is final. It's one thing to be ready, willing and able to parent your children after divorce. It's another thing to be able to accommodate what your schedule and logistics will allow.
Legal Custody
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Legal custody refers to the parent with the responsibilities for making major decisions in the children's lives. Family courts usually default to joint legal custody, but if there are serious, provable concerns about the ability of one parent to exercise his or her duties, you may want to plan for a primary or sole level of legal custody.
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Physical Custody
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Consider how your work schedule will accommodate your expected parenting plan. Of course, this may take cooperation on the part of your spouse which may not be there. Determine what level of parenting time, including overnights, your schedule can handle. Physical custody should be equal shared parenting time if feasible.
Holidays and Special Occasions
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Whether you anticipate having equal, primary or secondary time with the children, decide how holidays and other special occasions will be split. Be specific enough and include exchange times and dates. For instance, consider alternating major holidays each year with each parent taking one major holiday, followed by the other getting the next.
Education
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Prepare to decide which school district the children will attend. If there is an imbalance in parenting time, typically the parent with the primary custody will take precedence. In an equal parenting situation, you may opt to choose the better school system.
Religion
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If you and your spouse are from different religions, you will have to figure out whether the children will be one denomination, the other, or perhaps even both.
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