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

Louisiana Parenting Plan

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

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in Louisiana (LA)

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 Louisiana.

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 Louisiana Parenting Plan

Parents in Louisiana who agree on the terms and conditions of their parenting plan can submit it to the court and it will generally be accepted (the only reason it wouldn't be accepted is if the court rules that the plan isn't in the child's best interest).
If the parents aren't able to cooperate and make a plan, the court will determine the custody arrangements.
The Louisiana courts award joint custody as a default.
If a parent wants sole custody, he/she must prove with clear and convincing evidence that sole custody is the best thing for the child.
In determining if a parenting plan is the best for the child the court will consider the relationship between the parents and the children, relationships between children and other family members, the capacity of the parents to provide a good upbringing for the children, the length of time the children have been in a stable home, the permanence of the proposed custody agreement, the moral fitness of the parents, the mental and physical health of everyone involved, the child's history with the community, the distance between the parents, the previous care each parent has provided to the children, and the willingness of the parents to collaborate with each other.

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.

Custody X Change Helps Louisiana Parents

Work with the other parent to make a joint parenting plan that is in the best interest of the child.
Prepare an individual plan and present it in court using the documents from the program.
Easily explore options for the custody and visitation schedule until you find the right one for your child.
Include custody provisions to cover important issues to help your plan work better.
Prepare plans to show at mediation, to the other parent, or to your attorney.
Save money in legal fees.
Print multiple copies of the calendar so you always know what is going on.
Pay or receive the right amount of child support that is calculated with an accurate timeshare percentage from the software.
Keep track of the actual time that each parent has with the children so you know how well the plan is being followed.
Take notes about visitation and other custody issues.
Modify the plan as necessary based on the tracking documentation.
Ease the stress and conflict of the custody situation by having a good plan that works for you and 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 Louisiana who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.

The top fifteen cities in Louisiana (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Metairie, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Kenner, Bossier City, Monroe, Alexandria, Marrero, New Iberia, Houma, Laplace, Slidell.

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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