Going through a divorce or  separation can be challenging and emotional, especially while prioritising the needs of your children and managing your own emotions. Understanding when and how to make key decisions, and whether you need joint agreement with your former partner over child arrangements can be difficult, even when the separation is relatively amicable.

Sometimes you may need an experienced family law solicitors to guide you through the process and to help you make parenting plans, so contact our team at Ison Harrison today.

Understanding what a parenting plan is

A parenting plan is a voluntary, but formal written agreement made between divorcing or separating parents. It will outline practical issues such as where the children shall live and what time they spend with their parents, and can include financial arrangements such as payment of school uniform or trips and day to day communication preferences. The plan will help  provide a framework for how each parent will coparent  and how the arrangements will be managed, with the intention of minimising conflict and disputes and promoting the best interests of the children.

Parenting plans will:

  • Define key responsibilities
  • Make clear arrangements for domestic living, education, healthcare and other relevant areas of the child’s wellbeing.

A parenting plan should consider the needs of both parents and should be fair and reasonable in terms of access and domestic arrangements. Where a parenting plan is agreed, it can prevent the need for either parent using the family courts to create a child arrangement order, which would legally control living and spending time with arrangements.

A  parenting plan is considered a more amicable way to make arrangements for children involved in divorce and separation.

What should a parenting plan include?

Children  are impacted by divorce and separation, and this can have long term effects on them, so it is important that key considerations are made at an early stage to maintain as much stability as possible. Important decisions and agreements in a parenting plan should include:

Time-sharing – Where locations and circumstances allow, how does the child spend a fair or equal amount of time with each parent?

Co-parenting – Even if a child doesn’t spend equal time with each parent, the parents still have equal parental responsibility. Co-parenting involves joint decision-making on key elements of a child’s upbringing, such as education, healthcare and religious beliefs.

Age – Arrangements need to consider the age of the child, such as if the child is a baby or toddler more flexibility will be needed to accommodate their development needs. As the child gets older, they will have their own hobbies and interests and will  have more influence over where they spend their time and this can be incorporated in the parenting plan.

Education – Parents need to agree on which school the child should attend and should make decisions on matters directly impacting on their education.

Healthcare – Parents need to agree on who makes key decisions relating to healthcare, and how much consultation there is between the parents regarding medical treatments, vaccinations and the child’s general health.

Extra-curricular activities – Parents need to agree on what is or isn’t suitable as it can impact on education and living arrangements, but can also have a major impact on the child’s development.

Holidays – There should be an agreement on the boundaries relating to holidays. For example, taking a child on holiday during the school term or  abroad without the consent of the other, this  could be considered child abduction.

Creating a parenting plan

Creating a parenting plan requires open and clear communication and a commitment from both parents to put the child’s best interests first. The parents need to be cooperative and collaborative in order to prioritise the needs of the child..

If you contact an experienced family law solicitors such as Ison Harrison, we can help you create a parenting plan that is fair and reasonable and promotes your child’s long-term health wellbeing. We can help you with:

  • Negotiations – With the intention of reaching an amicable agreement. Such mutual agreements include the creation of parenting plans.
  • Rights – We can advise parents on their rights and responsibilities, what parental responsibility is and what a parenting plan should include. We can also advise on how to apply to the court to make your agreement legally enforceable, if that is what you want to do, and what to do if elements of a parenting plan are being broken.
  • Flexibility – As a child grows and develops, their needs and circumstances change and therefore a parenting plan should be adapted accordingly. We can help you evolve the parenting plan to meet these needs and make modifications to suit new circumstances, while also maintaining a fair and reasonable parenting arrangement.

Our family law solicitors are here to offer advice and support with parenting plans. We will help you understand your legal rights and what you need to put in place to ensure the impact of divorce and separation on a child’s health and development is minimised.  Call our team today on 0113 284 5000 or email family@isonharrison.co.uk