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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

Iowa Custody Agreement

Custody X Change can help you create a perfect
custody agreement in Iowa.

How to Create Your Child Custody Agreement in Iowa (IA)

Creating your child custody agreement is the most important thing you'll do in your custody situation. The custody agreement contains the information about how parents will divide parental responsibility, share time with the children, and continue to care and provide for the children. The custody agreement turns into the custody order, making it a legal document that the parents must follow. Therefore, it is crucial that parents take the time and effort to make the best custody agreement possible.

Creating a Child Custody Agreement

The first step in making your child custody agreement is to understand the definitions of physical custody and legal custody.

Physical custody means the time the child is with the parent and in the parent's care.
Physical custody can be given to one parent--a sole physical custody agreement--with visitation to the other parent, or parents may have a joint physical custody agreement where they both spend significant time caring for the children (although, in a joint custody agreement, the time doesn't have to be exactly equal).
Legal custody refers to the rights and responsibilities the parents have over making decisions for the child. This includes decisions about education, medical and dental care, religion, child care, driving privileges, extra-curricular activities, etc.
A mother or father may have sole legal custody over the children, or they may share joint legal custody. Parents can have joint legal custody without sharing joint physical custody.

Basically, your custody agreement contains information about how you and the other parent will share and divide legal and physical custody and a plan for how you will make those arrangements work.

For physical custody, the parents should include a complete custody and visitation schedule, a holiday schedule, and include any days or events where the custody situation changes.
For legal custody, the agreement should contain the process for how decisions will be made and how the decision making responsibility will be shared.
Parents can also include more provisions in their agreement that provide rules that help the parents work out custody issues. For example, many agreements have provisions that outline how transportation for visits will be handled.
Anything else that will help the custody arrangements go more smoothly and help the parents cooperate should also be put in the agreement.

Information About Iowa Custody Agreements

Iowa courts like parents to have joint custody agreements as much as possible.
If a parent in Iowa wants a sole custody agreement adopted, he/she must present solid evidence to the court about why and how joint custody would be detrimental to the child.
The parents can work together to make a custody agreement they are both satisfied with and the court will accept it.
If the parents are not able to work out their agreement, the court will determine the terms and conditions of the custody agreement and the parents will have to follow it.
Some of the things the court considers when deciding on the agreement are the suitability of each parent as a custodian for the child, if the child will suffer due to lack of contact with both parents, if the parents can communicate with each other, how much each parent was involved in the caring of the child, if each parent can support the other parent's relationship with the child, the child's wishes, the proximity of the parents, and the safety of the child.
Mothers and fathers should also consider these factors as they create their custody agreements.

How Custody X Change can Help

Custody X Change is child custody software that lets parents create custody agreements that have all of the information about physical and legal custody. The program helps you make an agreement that the court will accept and make into a custody order. With the software you can:

Make a complete custody and visitation schedule with a repeating cycle of custody, a holiday schedule, vacation time, and special events.
Include information about how legal custody will be divided and shared between the parents.
View the exact timeshare percentage that each parent has with the children so you can create the best schedule for your situation.
Add important provisions and stipulations to help the custody arrangements work better.
Print professional reports that contain your agreement, including a written and calendar form of the custody schedule, a list of the included provisions, and a detailed timeshare percentage document.
Track what is going on with your custody situation by marking the actual time that each parent has the children, keeping a visitation journal, and printing a report that shows the difference between actual and scheduled time with the children.
Export all of the reports to Word, PDF, and Excel.
Sync your custody and visitation schedule to your Blackberry, iPhone, Palm/PDA, Outlook, Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, Windows Live, etc.

Iowa Parents Use Custody X Change To

Create a custody agreement that fills all of the needs of the child and provides a clear plan for how the parents will continue to parent the child.
Work together with the other parent to make a shared or joint custody agreement that satisfies everyone.
Prepare sample agreements to use when working with the other parent or to bring in mediation.
Make an individual custody agreement to show in court or to use when working with an attorney.
If you want a sole custody agreement, use the documents to show why it is the right one for your child.
Save money in legal fees by putting in your own time and effort into an agreement you want.
Avoid the time and expense of a legal battle.
Explore options when making the custody and visitation schedule and use the timeshare percentage to know that the schedule is good for everyone.
Add provisions that enhance the agreement, benefit the child, and give the parents clear direction with the arrangements.
Track the actual time each parent has with the children so you know if the agreement is being followed.
Journal about visitation and keep the documentation so you always know what is going on.
Pay or receive the right child support by using the timeshare percentage in your calculation.
Feel confident and secure with your custody arrangements.

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 Iowa who have found the easy way to make the best child custody agreement.

The top fifteen cities in Iowa (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City, Waterloo, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Ames, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Cedar Falls, Marion, Bettendorf.

Additional state custody agreement articles you might want to consider:

Related article (not state-specific): Custody Agreement.

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