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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

Washington D.C. Parenting Plan

Custody X Change can help you create a
parenting plan in Washington D.C.

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in
Washington D.C.

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 Washington D.C.

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.

Parenting Plans In Washington DC

Parents can collaborate on a parenting plan and submit it together to the court. This will most likely be accepted, unless the court reviews the plan and finds that it isn't in the best interest of the child.
Parents who are not able to cooperate on a plan can each prepare a plan to present to the court.
In Washington DC, there is the presumption that joint custody is in the best interest of the child.
A parent who proposes a different type of plan must be able to defend that plan and explain why joint custody is not in the best interest of the child.
After the mother and father both show their plans, the court will make the decisions about what the plan will include.
In determining what is best for the child, the court will consider the wishes of the child and the parents; the interaction and interrelationship between the child and the parents, the child and other siblings, and the child and other significant family members; the willingness of the parents to share custody; the prior involvement of each parent with the child; the potential disruption of the child's school and social life; the geographic proximity of the parents; the demands of parental employment; the age and number of children; the sincerity of each parent's request; the parent's ability to financially support a joint custody arrangement; and the benefit to the parents.
Parents should also consider these factors when creating a plan.

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 Washington DC Parents

Make a joint parenting plan with the other parent or prepare a plan individually that benefits your child.
Create a joint custody and visitation schedule for the plan by looking at various options until you find what works for your situation.
Include provisions about dividing decision making, resolving disputes, shielding your child from conflict, encouraging agreement between the parents, meeting the child's needs, etc, that enhance the plan.
Show multiple plan examples at mediation or to the other parent.
Prepare a plan to present in court and use the documents from the program to show why the plan is in the best interest of the child.
Save money in legal fees by doing your own work instead of hiring an attorney.
Pay or receive the right amount of child support by basing the support on the correct timeshare percentage calculation.
Track the actual time that each parent has with the children so you know what's going on with the schedule.
Keep a custody journal where you write about visitation and other custody matters.
Modify the schedule according to the child's needs at any time.
Feel in control of your custody situation and know that you are doing the best things 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 Washington D.C. who have found the way to make the best parenting plan.

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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