Child Custody During Separation

You and your spouse have decided to separate. Perhaps you are planning to divorce and you just need some time, or maybe you are separating with the hopes of getting back together. What do you do about child custody? How much time should the children spend with each parent? What is the best way to handle it?

As soon as you and your child's other parent are living in separate locations, you need to create a parenting plan. If you are legally separated, your parenting plan will be part of the legal documents that the court accepts. The initial parenting plan that you make can be made into a temporary custody order. That prepares the way for a permanent order. If you aren't legally separated, you need to prepare a parenting plan to either take to the court or for you and the other parent parent to live by.

A parenting plan should include a calendar schedule of custody and child visitation. Parents will usually set up a repeating cycle of custody and apply it through a certain length of time. You will also need to create a holiday schedule, figure out vacation times, and put in any special events where the custody changes. A responsible parenting plan should also include the provisions and stipulations that the parents want each other to live by (for example, there could be a provision that a parent has to notify the other parent if there's a change of address).

Creating a parenting plan can be time-consuming and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. Parents who want help creating the best plan for their children can get Custody X Change.

Custody X Change is family law software that lets parents create parenting plans and custody agreements. With Custody X Change, a parent simply sits down at the computer and clicks through the tabs to make each part of the plan. A parent can quickly choose or create their repeating cycle, and the program applies it to as many years as they want. Vacation time can be scheduled directly into the calendar, or written as an unspecified vacation. Holidays are easy to schedule--the parent just clicks through the list of holidays they want included and where the child goes on that day. Parents can also add special events--ether one time or recurring. As the calendar is created, you get a continual update of the time-share and overnight percentage that each parent has with the children. All of this is applied to a calendar and is also printed out in document form. Custody X Change also lets you put any provisions that you want in the agreement. Once you have everything entered, you can print off all of the documents in legal terminology or export them to PDF or Word to make changes to them.

Charles used Custody X Change to work with the other parent so everyone was happy with the parenting plan.

"Hello. As someone who needed a little help sorting out time issues around custody of my children, I found custody exchange to be simple and easy to use and very clear with the outcome at a time when that was necessary. My former spouse and I have referred it to other families in need. We have had great success with it. The program is clear and easy to make time lines or plans for events. We do not dispute over time or access as all is laid out simply. It works well for unplanned events as well as the Percentage calculator has made for fair trades. Thank-you."

Charles Shillolo
Toronto, ON, Canada

Stacie used Custody X Change to get her plan adopted by the court.

"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

Custody X Change can help you get your custody situation off to a great start. Download your free trial today and find out how to create your perfect parenting plan.