Divorce and Your Parenting Plan: Should You Include Rules?

YUMA, Arizona. If you are getting divorced in Yuma, Arizona, you and your ex will need to develop a parenting plan. More detailed parenting plans are beneficial because they reduce the likelihood of conflict in the future and they make it more likely that both parents will abide by the rules. However, how detailed should your parenting plan be?

Most parenting plans should include basic information about when the child will see each parent, how holidays and special occasions will be spent and celebrated, and how major decisions regarding your child’s schooling, education, and medical care will be made. Some parents choose to include additional provisions in their parenting plan, such as provisions about how changes to the plan should be made, and how disagreements will be handled.

If you and your ex disagree about certain aspects of your child’s upbringing, should you include rules for your child in the plan? According to Very Well Family
, divorcing couples often disagree about issues like discipline and rule-setting. In most cases, the best way to handle these differences in your parenting style is simply to let each parent set his or her own rules in his or her own household. As long as the rules are consistent in each home, the children should be able to adjust. However, if you are concerned that your ex’s discipline tactics are unsafe or are putting your child in danger, you may want to speak to a qualified divorce lawyer like Schneider & Onofry, P.C. in Yuma, Arizona. Our firm can either help you seek full custody of your child, or seek to put measures in place, like supervised visitation, to ensure that your child stays safe.

If there are certain rules that you want enforced, such as a 9 p.m. curfew or a reasonable bedtime so that the children aren’t tired when they come to your house, these requests might be negotiable. You can always include these additional requests in your parenting plan, but be aware that it might be difficult to enforce rules when the children are not in your home. If you are going through a high-conflict divorce, you may want to include provisions for how disagreements and conflicts will be handled. Try to be specific. For example, it might not be sufficient to say that disagreements will be discussed. Instead, you might suggest that one parent inform the other about the conflict in writing. If the disagreement cannot be resolved after this, then both parties might consider mediation or might have another meeting with their divorce lawyers to discuss the disagreement.

Parents Magazine
suggests that another solution is to have regular family meetings. However, this tactic generally works best when both parents are on relatively good speaking terms.

At the end of the day, when it comes to co-parenting, it is important to pick your battles. When you’re getting divorced, everything can feel like an uphill battle and it can be tough to know what to demand and what to let go. Schneider & Onofry, P.C. are divorce attorneys in Yuma, Arizona
who can help you navigate the challenges of divorce.

Schneider & Onofry, P.C.
6024 E. 32nd St.
Yuma, AZ 85365