Once you have a custody agreement in place, you want to make sure that it is followed. Custody X Change has an actual-time tracking and journaling feature that lets you keep track of actual parenting time and take notes about visitation and custody.
Some of the benefits of tracking your plan are:
- Knowing how well the plan is being followed
- Being able to calculate the actual time you have with your child
- Using the documents from tracking to have your agreement modified
- Seeing how well a temporary agreement works to know if it should be permanent
To help you make sure that your plan is being followed, it's a good idea to keep track of the parenting schedule and to take notes about important events.
It's frustrating when you have a parenting plan in place and the other parent is repeatedly late in dropping off the children, continually misses visitation or makes last minutes changes to the schedule. Use Custody X Change to track these issues for future use.
Custody X Change conveniently allows you to:
- Enter in the actual parenting time and compare it to the scheduled parenting time
- Keep notes about visitation or other custody matters
- Print a report that shows the difference in parenting time
- Print a journal of your notes
Tracking your plan once it is in place is helpful because:
- If the other parent knows you are tracking the actual time, it is often a good motivation for better behavior
- You can show the other parent a report of the difference in parenting time to show the differences
- You get a clear idea of how much time you actually have the children
- You have a journal of custody and visitation notes that you can refer back to when needed
As you enter in the actual parenting time, Custody X Change shows you the calculation of the timeshare percentage. You can also print a report that shows the difference between scheduled parenting time and actual parenting time.
This helps you know what is going on with the schedule, and you have a report that shows if the other parent isn't following the schedule. A report that shows the difference between actual parenting time and scheduled parenting time can help prove your case if you ever want to modify your agreement in court.
If you want to change your parenting time schedule or parenting plan, it is a good idea to keep track of what is currently going on with your plan. This means that you should be tracking the time each parent has with the children and keeping notes about what is going on.
A family court will not usually modify an existing plan unless it can be shown that there have been significant changes that affect the schedule. Changes might include a new job, problems with the other parent meeting the schedule or a child's new school schedule.
When you track actual parenting time to scheduled time, you can present this information in court, in mediation, or negotiation to show what changes are necessary.
With Custody X Change, you can:
- Print a report that shows the difference in actual parenting time compared to scheduled parenting time. You can then show this report as evidence that the parenting time schedule isn't being followed and that it should be changed.
- Print a report that shows a journal of your visitation notes. You then have an organized document that clearly presents your information.
- Keep all of your tracking information together in the software so you have an easy system to use.
- Use the tracking documents in court or in a meeting with the other parent so you can modify your agreement so it better suits your child.
Custody X Change gives you an easy way to track your agreement and schedule so that all of your information is organized and easily accessed. This helps you get your agreement modified because you are prepared and have documents to back up why the changes you want are necessary.
If you have a temporary agreement in place, it is a good idea to track it so you know how well it is working. With Custody X Change, you can keep track of how well each parent follows the schedule and write notes about what is and isn't working with the plan.
When it's time to make a permanent plan, you will have the information you need to make improvements to the plan to create a better one that works for your situation.
With Custody X Change actual-time and journaling features, you will also have documents to show in court, in mediation, or in negotiation as evidence for what is best for your child and the parenting plan that works best for everyone.
Related articles:
How Tracking Helps Your Parenting Plan