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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 Parenting Plan

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

How to Create Your Parenting Plan in Washington (WA)

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.

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.

Information for Washington Parenting Plans

In Washington it is required that parents have a parenting plan, and it is encouraged for the parents to collaborate on the plan.
The objectives of a Washington state parenting plan are to provide for the child's physical care, maintain the emotional stability of the child, provide for the child's changing needs as the child grows older, encourage the parents to work out disagreements instead of relying on the courts, and to protect the best interests of the child.
Washington requires that parents include a provision in their parenting plan about how the parents will resolve future disputes.
Parents should also include the information about legal custody and how the parents will share decision making responsibilities.
Plans also need to include where the child will spend time during the year, on holidays, and information about vacations.
If parents can work this out together they can submit their plan to the court to be approved.
If they cannot work together, each parent must create a parenting plan in good faith (meaning they think the plan really is in the best interest of the child) and present it to the court. The court will have the final say on what parenting plan is accepted.

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 Parents in Washington

Make a Washington parenting plan with all of the necessary components.
Create the best parenting time schedule that shows where the child is during the year including holidays and vacations.
Include helpful provisions about how parents will share legal custody, how the parents will resolve disputes, how the parents will handle exchanges for parenting time, etc.
Collaborate with the other parent to make a plan that everyone supports.
Prepare example plans for mediation or to show the other parent.
Present a plan made in good faith to the court and use the documents from the program to show how the plan benefits the child.
Save money in legal fees.
Pay or receive the right amount of child support by getting an accurate calculation with the timeshare percentage.
Track the parenting time schedule so you know what is going on.
Modify the plan to incorporate the changing needs of your child.
Keep a custody journal so you can track what happens during visitation and other events.
Feel good about your custody situation and enjoy your parenting time instead of stressing out about the plan.

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

The top twenty cities in Washington (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, Everett, Spokane Valley, Federal Way, Yakima, Kent, Bellingham, Kennewick, Renton, Lakewood, Auburn, Pasco, Shoreline, Redmond, Kirkland, Richland.

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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