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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 Parenting Plan

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

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in
Iowa (IA)

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 Iowa.

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 Iowa Parenting Plan

In Iowa, parents who can make a parenting that they both agree on can submit that plan to the court and have it accepted.
If the parents cannot agree on a plan, the court will make the decisions about custody and visitation. A mother or father should create a parenting plan to present to the court with the plan she/he would like the court to adopt.
Iowa courts like to award joint custody in as many cases as possible. Unless there is a clear reason why a parent shouldn't have joint custody (a reason might be a history of domestic abuse or criminal behavior) the courts will assign joint custody.
A parent wanting sole custody must prepare a plan and have very solid evidence that the plan is in the best interest of the child.
Some of the things the court considers when deciding about parenting plans are: whether each parent is a suitable custodian for the children, if the child will suffer due to lack of contact with both parents, how well the parents communicate with each other, if both parents cared for the child before the separation, if each parent can support the child having a relationship with the other parent, the child's wishes, the geographic proximity of the parents, the safety of the child, and if the parents agree on joint custody.
Parents should also consider these factors as they create a plan and they should be prepared to defend their plan as in the child's best interest.

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 time sharing 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.

Iowa Parents Use Custody X Change To

Work together to prepare a joint custody plan that the court will accept.
Work alone to prepare a parenting plan to present to court and use the documents from the program to explain why the plan is in the best interest of the child.
Prepare a plan to present at mediation, in court, or at a meeting with the other parent.
Explore different time sharing schedules until you find one that works for your situation.
Include important custody provisions that improve the plan.
Save money in legal fees by making your parenting plan yourself.
Make a customized, personal plan that really fits the needs of your child and your situation.
Easily make changes to the plan as necessary and print out multiple copies of the calendar so you always know what is going on.
Pay or receive child support based on an accurate timeshare percentage calculation.
Track the actual custody and visitation schedule so you know how much time you really have with the children.
Keep a visitation journal about important custody events.
Modify the plan and schedule based on the tracking documentation.
Have peace of mind concerning your plan by knowing it is the best one for your child.

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 way to make the best parenting plan.

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 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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