Custody X Change can help you create a
parenting plan in Alabama.
How to Create Your Parenting Plan in Alabama (AL)
Your parenting plan is the most important document in your child custody situation. The parenting plan outlines all of the information about how you and the child's other parent will continue to care for the child after a divorce or separation. It is vital that parents take the time to create a detailed, well-thought out plan that centers around the best interests of their children. Here are some things to consider for parents making a parenting plan in Alabama.
Your parenting plan should include information about how parents will divide parental responsibility and share time with the children.
- Legal custody refers to the parent's rights to make decisions for and about their child. This includes decisions about education, child care, religion, medical and dental care, etc. When the children are older it includes decisions about driving, working part time, extra-curricular activities, school functions, etc.
- In sole legal custody, one parent has the right to make decisions about the child.
- In joint legal custody the parents share this responsibility. The parents can divide the decisions between them or they can consult each other about all of the issues.
- Physical custody refers to how the parents share the time with the children. Parents need to figure out where their children will live during the week, on weekends, during holidays, vacation time, etc.
- In sole physical custody, the child lives with one parent and has visitation with the other parent.
- In a joint physical custody arrangement, the child spends substantial time living with both parents. The time doesn't have to be exactly split in half in joint physical custody.
So, Your Parenting Plan Needs to Have
- The type of legal and physical custody the parents have chosen (parents may have joint legal custody without joint physical custody),
- A custody and visitation schedule that shows when the child is with each parent,
- A holiday and vacation schedule,
- How the parents will make decisions for the child,
- Provisions that the parents want to include about parenting, and
- Any other information the parents want to include concerning the child custody arrangements.
For Your Alabama Parenting Plan
- The courts prefer to award joint custody over sole custody. However, if it is in the best interest of the child, the court will order sole custody.
- If parents are able to agree on a parenting plan, the court will usually accept it and make it the custody order.
- If parents cannot work together, they will both need to present their case to the court and the court will make the final decision about custody.
- When considering what type of custody to implement, the court looks at: the agreement or lack of agreement of the parents to have joint custody, the ability of the parents to cooperate, the ability of the parents to encourage the children to develop relationships with both parents, the geographic proximity of the parents, and any past history of child abuse.
Custody X Change is custody software that helps parents create a parenting plan. The software makes it easy to put in all of the necessary information so that your plan can be accepted by the court. With the software, you can:
- Create your custody and visitation schedule by making a repeating cycle of custody, a holiday schedule, and adding in any vacation time and special events.
- See the exact timeshare percentage that each parent has with the children when you set up your schedule.
- Include information about how legal custody will be divided.
- Add extra parenting provisions and stipulations into your plan.
- Print professional documents of the entire parenting plan, including a written form of the custody and visitation schedule, a calendar of the custody and visitation schedule, the detailed time-share and overnight percentage report, and the list of provisions the parents have included.
- Track actual visitation, keep a journal about visitation, and print a report that shows the difference between scheduled and actual visitation time.
- Export all of the documents to Word, PDF, and Excel.
- Sync the custody calendar to your Blackberry, iPhone, Palm/PDA, Outlook, Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, Windows Live, etc.
Alabama Parents Use Custody X Change To
- Make the best custody and visitation schedule by exploring different options and customizing the schedule to fit the needs of your child.
- Include important provisions in the plan that enhance the schedule and make things work more smoothly.
- Ease stress and conflict when preparing a joint parenting plan with the other parent.
- Save money in legal fees by making your own plan instead of hiring a lawyer.
- Prepare a plan to present in court or to bring to mediation.
- Use the documents from the program to show the court why a schedule is in the best interest of the child.
- Pay an accurate amount of child support based on the timeshare percentage calculation.
- Keep track of actual visitation to ensure that the plan is being followed.
- Keep a visitation journal that details what happened during visitation.
- Modify an existing plan with the tracking and journaling reports.
- Print multiple copies of the plan and calendar so everyone always knows what is going on.
- Enjoy the time with your children because you aren't worrying about the parenting plan.
You can get a free thirty day trial of Custody X Change by entering your name and email at the top of the page. Join the others in Alabama who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.
The top fifteen cities in Alabama (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Dothan, Auburn, Decatur, Madison, Florence, Gadsden, Prattville, Phenix City, Vestavia Hills.
Additional state parenting plans you might want to consider:
Two related articles (not state-specific) to read: Parenting Plan and Parenting Plan Template.
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