If you and the other parent decide to use mediation to work out a custody agreement and parenting plan, Custody X Change is a great tool to help you get ready. In mediation, both parents sit down with a neutral third person and decide the terms and conditions of the agreement. Before you go, you should prepare and organize your thoughts so that you can explain your ideas for the agreement. Custody X Change can help you:
- Create example parenting plans to show the other parent and the mediator;
- Organize your ideas so that you don't leave out anything important in your meeting;
- Bring documents that clearly show what you want for the agreement and help you explain your ideas;
- Easily make suggested changes to your plan after mediation; and
- Work out an agreement that both you and the other parent are happy with.
Custody X Change allows you easily and quickly create sample parenting plans to show at mediation. This is useful because you want to have options as you and the other parent discuss what is best for your child, and if you have several options that are acceptable to you, you can be more flexible during the meeting.
Make sample parenting time schedules: you can make multiple parenting time schedules that show a residential schedule, holiday schedule, vacation time, a school break schedule, and special events. You can show the other parent the individual parts of the schedules, or present them all together. You can also show the timeshare percentage for each parent with each schedule.
Include parenting provisions: along with showing sample schedules, you can prepare a list of parenting provisions that you want in your agreement. The software has a list of provisions that you can choose from, and these can also help you think of additional provisions that can help you agreement. You can then print off your list of provisions so that you can discuss them during mediation.
As you create some plans to bring to mediation, you will be able to organize your thoughts and ideas before your meeting. This is essential when going to mediation so that you and the other parent talk about all of the important custody issues. Here are some ideas for how to use the software to organize your plans for mediation.
- As you create sample schedules, write down what is important for you in the schedule. If you have a few notes about what the schedule must have, you'll be better prepared to know what you can be flexible about and what is a necessity in the schedule.
- As you look through the provisions, think about your unique circumstances and come up with some personal provisions that you think will help make your parenting plan work. Think specifically about problem areas so that you and the other parent can find some solutions.
- Use the documents from the program so that you can present your information in an organized manner. You can organize the documents however you want (you can show entire plans together, or you can show multiple examples of each part of the plan, etc) but think through how you want to show the information and prepare your documents that way.
The documents from Custody X Change can help you as you prepare and organize for mediation, and they are also useful when you are sitting in mediation with the other parent. The documents from the program include:
- A calendar version of the parenting time schedule,
- A written report of the parenting time schedule,
- A written report of the custody provisions and the entire agreement, and
- A timeshare percentage report that shows the exact time each parent has the children.
You can print copies of these documents so that the other parent and the mediator can see what you're explaining when you talk about your parenting plans, and the other parent can then take home some of your plans to think about what they like. This helps mediation work and allows you and the other parent to reach an agreement more quickly.
All of these documents can be printed directly from the software or they can be exported to Word, Excel, and PDF. Exporting them to Word allows you to make some personal changes to your plans so you can present exactly what you want.
Many parents meet several times in mediation before they work out an agreement. After you meet for the first time and present your example plans, the other parent may want to make some changes. When you're using Custody X Change, it's easy to sit at the computer and make some changes to your plans. Then you can go back to mediation with some new ideas that the other parent will support.
Changing the parenting time schedule: the other parent may want to change some of the visitation times, the holiday schedule, vacation schedule, etc. Once you have feedback from the other parent about what type of schedule he/she wants, you can go back to Custody X Change and make a new schedule with the changes. You won't resent making the changes because it's so easy.
Adding or changing provisions: after a first mediation meeting, you may think of additional provisions to put in the agreement, or you may want to make some wording changes to some of the provisions. You can simply go back to the software and add the provisions or you can export the information to Word and make whatever changes you want.
Present new plan options: when you and the other parent meet again for mediation, you will have some new plan options to present that have the changes from the other parent (and the changes you want). This will help you reach an agreement more quickly because you don't have to spend hours and hours re-writing plans. Instead, you make a few changes in the software and print out your new plans.
The goal of mediation is for you to come away with a custody agreement that both parent support. Using Custody X Change, you can facilitate this process because you will be prepared and organized for your meetings. This will allow you to focus on the issues and come up with an agreement both parents like.
You can use the documents directly from the software as your agreement. Both parents can sign the plan, and you can have it recognized so it is official.
Once your agreement is in place, you can continue to use the software because you can track the actual parenting time and keep notes about visitation. This will help you see if your plan is working and whether you need to make changes.