Custody X Change can help you create a
parenting plan in Arizona.
How to Create Your Parenting Plan in Arizona (AZ)
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 Arizona.
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 Arizona Parenting Plan
- It is required that parents submit a parenting plan to the court with all of the above issues covered.
- Parents must also include the procedure that they will follow if either parent wants to make a change to the plan.
- If the mother and father cannot agree on what goes into the plan, the court will make the decisions about the plan.
- The Arizona Supreme Court has published a guideline for parents making their parenting plans. These include different models of plans that the court likes. Parents don't have to adopt one of these plans, but you may want to look at them to see if they can help.
- Different counties in Arizona have different requirements about parenting plans. Parents should check at their county courthouse to make sure they have followed procedure.
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.
Custody X Change helps Parents in Arizona
- Make a complete custody and visitation schedule that works for your child.
- Print out the documents that you can submit in Arizona as your plan.
- Easily include the necessary provision of a procedure of how to change the plan as well as other provisions that customize the plan for the child.
- Work with the other parent to make a plan that both parents support.
- Save money in legal fees.
- Prepare a plan to present in court or at mediation.
- Pay or receive the right amount of child support based on the timeshare percentage calculation.
- Keep track of the actual time that both parents have the children. This way you know the plan is being followed.
- Write notes about visitation and save them with the rest of the plan.
- Modify your plan using the tracking documentation.
- Easily make small changes to the custody schedule as needed and print out a new calendar.
- Enjoy the time you have with your children instead of stressing out about the 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 Arizona who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.
The top twenty cities in Arizona (by population, CDF estimates, 2009) are: Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria, Surprise, Yuma, Avondale, Flagstaff, Goodyear, Lake Havasu City, Buckeye, Maricopa, Oro Valley, Sierra Vista, Prescott.
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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