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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

New Jersey Parenting Plan


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

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in
New Jersey (NJ)

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 New Jersey.

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 New Jersey Parenting Plan

  • In New Jersey, parents can work together and submit a parenting plan to the court. The court will usually accept that plan.
  • If the parents aren't able to come to an agreement about the plan, they will appear in court and explain the plan they want the court to accept.
  • The court will make the final decisions about physical and legal custody.
  • The court will look to adopt a plan that is in the child's best interest.
  • Some of the factors they consider are: the safety of the home environment, the relationship of the children to each of the parents, the willingness of the parents to cooperate, the stability of the home life, the parent's employment, the fitness of the parent, other siblings, the wishes of the child, etc.
  • Parents should consider the above issues as they create their parenting plan so they can make the best plan for their children.

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.

Custody X Change Helps New Jersey Parents

  • Make a parenting plan that is in the best interest of the child.
  • Create a complete custody and visitation schedule that gives fair time to both parents.
  • Include helpful custody provisions that enhance the schedule and make the plan work better.
  • Ease conflict when working with the other parent to make a plan.
  • Show multiple example plans at mediation or when meeting with the other parent.
  • Prepare and present a plan in court and use the documents to show why it is in the child's best interest.
  • Save money in legal fees by creating the plan on your own or with the other parent.
  • Determine the right amount of child support using the accurate timeshare percentage calculation.
  • Keep a custody journal about visitation and other matters.
  • Track the actual amount of parenting time to ensure that the plan is being followed.
  • Easily make changes to the plan as the child grows older and the needs change.
  • Reduce the hassle over the parenting plan so you can enjoy your time with the children.

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 New Jersey who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.

The top twenty cities in New Jersey (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, Toms River, Trenton, Camden, Brick Township, Clifton, Cherry Hill, Passaic, East Orange, Union City, Vineland, Bayonne, Irvington, North Bergen, Wayne, Union.

Additional state parenting plans you might want to consider:

Two related articles (not state-specific) to read: Parenting Plan and Parenting Plan Template.

Navigation: Child Custody » New Jersey » New Jersey Parenting Plan