Custody X Change version 3.40 has been released! We are excited about this update because the software now includes:

1. Time with neither parent (3rd-party time).
2. 5-8x faster calculations (in actual tests I ran)
3. An update of the mouse interactions on all graphical calendars.

For 1, this works as follows.  Using the right mouse button, you can designate time with neither parent.  It will be shown in gray and it will be excluded from the time computations.

For 2, adding 3rd-party time took me 4-5 months to complete. To do this, I had to overhaul major portions of the software, and in the process, I rewrote the calculations for efficiency

These are some exciting new features for the software that lets parents set up the best parenting plan for their custody situation. You can download a free trial of Custody X Change to find out how it can help you.

Left Click: Does nothing (previously it swapped up to a 24-hour period).
Left-Click & Drag: Swap time between parents (same as before)
Right-Click: Open the new “Day Magnification”.
Right-Click & Drag: Does nothing (though it will be used to add 3rd-party time when I finish that)

This new Day Magnification feature makes it easy to get the exact time you want without the frustration of mouse precision.

This feature had been requested by a customer, and I think it adds a lot to the ease of use of the software.  And if you have any feature suggestions, please send me an email and let me know.

If you haven’t tried Custody X Change, download a free trial of the program by filling out the box on the right. You’ll quickly discover that that program makes it easy (especially with the new feature in 3.15) to create your parenting plan and custody agreement.

NOTE: If you did not qualify for the version 3 upgrade (parents who purchased before July 11th 2009), do not install this update.  It will invalidate your old key and you will have to login to create a new one.

There are some exciting new features in Custody X Change!

In case you haven’t heard, Custody X Change is great custody software that lets parents set up their parenting plans and custody agreements. The software makes it easy to create your ideal custody and visitation schedule and add provisions. Then you can print out professional documents with your entire plan. And, you can export all of your information to Word, Excel, and PDF. After you make the plan, you can also use the program to track visitation time and keep a custody journal.

And, now you can do more. In addition to exporting to Word, PDF, and Excel, the parenting time calendar can now be exported to be sync’ed with external programs and devices. This uses an established calendar standard, so it should work with pretty much anything, including:

• Google Calendar
• Yahoo! Calendar
• Windows Live
• Outlook
• iPhone
• BlackBerry
• Palm / PDAs
• Excel

Once you export it, just follow the instructions from whichever program / device on how to import a calendar file. (This feature is available to the Deluxe / Professional versions only.)

And, you can now get the perfect holiday schedule with holiday localizations. During the install, you can now pick what holiday set you want loaded.  The current options are: United States, Canada, & Australia.  (This is available to all versions of the software.)

You can download a free trial of the software to find out how it can help your situation.

One other thing, I upgraded the programming platform and some components.  This looks like some things should be running faster (most notably the provisions tab), and I’ll be tweaking some things to come to get all the horsepower out of it (I have a few ideas to get some more juice out of things).  This upgrade should also kill any rare compatibility problems with the latest Windows 7, if there were still any lying around.

If you had uninstalled the software because you didn’t think it had some feature, now would be a good time to try it out again. I’ve noticed that quite a few people had wanted features that were already available, but just weren’t clearly enough explained.  I’m hoping these new in-software help features will cure those ills.

Download your free trial by filling in your information on the right.

-Ben

P.S. I’m running another usability test – tomorrow, in fact.  So if there are some more ease-of-use problems to be found, hopefully they’ll turn up then.

We’ve released a new version of Custody X Change.  This version is noteworthy for the following new features:

The first is from Julie Allender,

“I no longer am in a situation of Custody Visitations as I was awarded sole legal and physical Custody in October but I am now entering into a different phase and studying to become a Paralegal and possibly more and I will push your product at every opportunity I can as it is a valuable time and stress savor!”

The second is from Carrie Howell,

“I have been researching family law for a long time. You’re software is by far the most superior out there. Any of my (I can’t use clientele because I research for free) that asks for help has been and will be recommended your software. Thank you for allowing me a thirty-day trial of it so I could check it out for myself to recommend to others.”

The first is from Leslie Conn,

“Having a child with special needs (autism) can be overwhelming. Trying to work out a custody schedule in the midst of a divorce can be tiring and expensive. we needed everything to be spelled out in simple terms. The money we saved using your user friendly custody exchange went to extra’s for my sons therapy. There was no confusion on where and when each of us had him. There isn’t a lot my ex and I agreed on but the user friendly program you provided worked for both of us. Thanks, Leslie”

The second is from Hannah Anderson,

“The man I am divorcing was hardly ever involved in my child’s day to day activities for 5 years (TV was more important).  The minute I asked for a divorce he told me that he wants joint custody.  I used Custody X Change to put together a schedule that I could live with.  Then I used the tips to make his time look as high as it could.  I think I have convinced him to agree to my schedule and save us both lots of hours fighting through our attorneys.

I used the tip about adding school and daycare hours into his times so that it looks like he gets about 5% more time.  I also used the tip about holiday schedules and the tip about starting the report on a date that gives me the percentage that looks the best.”

I thought I’d pass these two stories on.  Hope you liked them.

These are just two examples of mothers using Custody X Change to help their custody case. Try out the software and see if it can help you.

How can this conflict be avoided?

The easiest way is for the parents to sit down together and hammer out a fair parental custody arrangement.  If both of the parents are involved in creating the arrangement, they will be much more likely to uphold it.  And if they both agree that the arrangement is fair, it will likely persist for years to come.

The Custody X Change software lets parents sit down together and easily hammer out a fair child-sharing arrangement, thus reducing the conflict. It can be a great child custody help for any situation.

Two ways it does this is:

• Both parents can see the time-share / overnight percentages at all times, which provides clarity into the fairness and increases trust.
• Both parents can walk away with an identical printed calendar, which eliminates any scheduling confusion (all too common around birthdays and holidays).

This process has an added benefit of reducing the legal fees surrounding a custody battle.  It also provides the children, if they are old enough to read a calendar, an easy way to know where they will be spending the holidays.

Not all parents are willing to sit down together (and it does take both to be willing), but those who have done so have sent raving testimonials.

Q: I live in (some state), does the software calculate the correct numbers for the child support software here?

A: Yes.  The time-share and overnight percentages the software calculates aren’t based on any state laws.  These numbers are, however, used in most jurisdictions’ child support formulas.

Q: Can I use the reports as legal attachments where I live?

A: The software doesn’t have anything to do with state laws.  A Judge in Idaho, Judge Day, said in regards to the Custody X Change attachment, “Because it accurately and clearly states all the terms, there is no problem using it as an attachment to the decree.”  Because it produces professional parenting plans using clear legal language it’s ideal to submit to the court.  You will likely have additional forms to file, but the Custody X Change parenting plan attachment should be one of them.

Q: How does this certain feature work?

A: If you’re just getting started I’d suggest you watch the how-to videos I created: http://www.custodyxchange.com/videos/.  More complicated questions could be answered by the help file inside the software, although it hasn’t been updated in a little while. If neither of those options turns up any good results, or if you’re having a difficult time, feel free to let me know.

Q: I have a legal question – can you help?

A: Sorry.  I can’t give legal advice and I can’t return emails or calls that ask for it.

Q: How’d you get started with this software?  Did you go through a nasty divorce?

A: I was approached by a family law attorney in California who wanted to be able to calculate time-share percentages.  I’ve only recently been married and don’t even have kids.  But I’ve continued to work on the software, even after the attorney and I parted ways, because I’ve seen the hurt caused to the families of divorce, and I want to continue to help.  As far as my background, I have a BS in Computer Science from a state school in California and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The first is from Steve Capaul,

“About four months ago I received the sad news that my wife wanted a divorce. Almost immediately I was focused on where our two girls would spend their time. In fact, within 48 hours I was documenting every minute of my time with them to assist my case in a potential custody battle that my ex-wife had threatened.

The divorce got contentious, as many do. Where the girls would spend their time was a major source of conflict. With Custody X Change, I was able to show my ex-wife graphically with two years’ worth of calendars how, if her proposed schedule were reversed, it would be unacceptable and a complete travesty of the notion of parenting time.

Suddenly the trajectory changed and within two weeks I had a written agreement to a grudging but somewhat amicable 50/50 physical custody split.

Thanks, the calendar printout was a great and effective tool.”

And the second is from a guy named David (he didn’t give his last name),

“The new reports look  great, and would have been very useful in my divorce.  My divorce was final Aug 10th, I can see how this program would be very helpful for someone in the process of divorce.

I had a “happy divorce”, there was no battle, and we split everything including parenting time and custody.  The custody exchange program helped me create a much more realistic parenting plan, that helps us visualize and plan.  I am utilizing the program to keep track of holidays and vacations as well.

Thanks to your wonderful program, I was able to create a better plan, present it to the kids’ mother and we are able to agree to disagree from the ordered plan.”

These are just two of the many stories that people have about how Custody X Change has helped them with their situation. Download a free trial of the software and find out how it can help you.