Create your ideal parenting plan with Custody X Change.

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Your Software is Great

"I just want to let you know that your software is great and easy to use. My son’s mom and I don’t agree on much, but we do try to make adjustments to accommodate my son’s many activities. It is great to get my son’s baseball schedule in March, look at my Custody Xchange calendar, and know that what nights in April, May, and June we are going to switch. Thanks again."

Frank Ryan
Meriden, CT

The Judge Adopted my Plan

"It can be tailored made to fit your unique schedule with holidays and vacations, plus it breaks the time share down so you can come up with a true shared parenting schedule. It helped me so much and I was pro se against a family law specialist, the judge adopted my plan that I came up with using custody exchange. Thank you so much it was invaluable."

Stacie Staples
Arroyo Grande, CA

I Recommend it to Other Family Law Practitioners

"I have used the Custody X Software in some complicated custody cases and have found it a very useful tool. Many people are very visual and the ability to lay out custody schedules years in advance has been helpful. I have found the software very easy to use and would highly recommend it to other family law practitioners."

Meredith W. Ditchen
Woodstock, GA
www.ditchenlaw.com

California Parenting Plan

Custody X Change can help you create a
parenting plan in California.

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in California (CA)

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 California.

What to Include in a Parenting Plan

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 California Parenting Plan

The court requires all of the above requirements in your parenting plan.
The court will also look at a parenting plan to make sure that it provides a consistent parenting time schedule.
The parenting plan becomes a court order after both of the parents sign it, a judge signs it, and the plan is filed with the court.
Depending on what county you live in in California, the exact process of filing your plan may differ. Check with your county court to find the exact information you need.
In general, you will need to fill out a Stipulation and Order for Custody and/or Visitation or Children as the cover sheet to your parenting plan. You then include the documents you have about the schedule, provisions, etc.
You can fill out forms provided by the court or attach your own documents.
In California, if parents are not able to agree on a parenting plan, they are required to attend custody mediation before appearing in court.
If the parents still cannot work out a plan in mediation, they will have a custody hearing where the final decisions about custody will be made by the judge.

How Custody X Change Can Help

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.

Parents in California Use Custody X Change To

Make the best possible parenting plan and get it accepted by the court.
Create a fair parenting time schedule that gives consistent time to both parents.
Include provisions that enhance the plan and meet the needs of your child.
Print multiple copies of the documents and submit them to the California court.
Save money in legal fees.
Work with the other parent to create a plan and a schedule that everyone will support.
Prepare and present a plan at mediation or court.
Easily modify or change a plan so that it better fits the needs of the child.
Pay or receive an accurate amount of child support that is based on the correct timeshare percentage.
Track the actual parenting time to know that the schedule is being followed.
Keep an important journal about visitation.
Enjoy a peaceful custody situation.

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 California who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.

The top twenty cities in California (by population, CDF estimates, 2009) are: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Long Beach, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Riverside, Stockton, Chula Vista, Fremont, Irvine, Modesto, Glendale, San Bernadino, and Huntington Beach.

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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