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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

Wisconsin Parenting Plan


Custody X Change can help you create a
parenting plan in Wisconsin.
How to Create Your Parenting Plan in Wisconsin (WI)

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 Wisconsin.

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.

Your Wisconsin Parenting Plan

  • In Wisconsin, if parents agree on a parenting plan they can file it with the court and the court will most likely accept it.
  • If the custody is contested, the courts usually require the parents to attend at least one session of mediation to create their parenting plan.
  • Parents who still cannot agree on their plan must both submit a parenting plan to the court that outlines what type of custody arrangements they would like to have.
  • Wisconsin parenting plans must include the basic information about legal custody (who will make the decisions), a complete custody and visitation schedule, a holiday schedule, information about vacation time, and a summer schedule.
  • The plans must also include additional information about where the parents live and where the parents will live in the next two years (unless there has been domestic abuse), where the parents work and the hours of employment, what type of child care the parents will hire and who will pay for the child care, where the child will attend school, the medical information about the child (where the child will receive medical care), what religion the child will participate in, how disputes will be resolved, child support information, and if the parent who doesn't have the children can contact the children through electronic means or the telephone.

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 Wisconsin Parents

  • Create a successful Wisconsin plan with all of the necessary information.
  • Make the best residential schedule for the by looking at different options until you find what works.
  • Include provisions that specify how the parents will make decisions for the child, where the parents live, where the parents work, how the parents will handle child care, where the child will attend school, the medical information for the child, the child's religion, how the parents will resolve future disputes, etc.
  • Ease tension when working with the other parent by using the software to focus on the needs of the child and the parenting plan.
  • Prepare parenting plan examples to show at mediation or to the other parent.
  • Present a plan in court and use the documents from the program to explain to the judge why the plan is best for the child.
  • Save money in legal fees by working on your own plan instead of paying a lawyer to make it.
  • Pay or receive the right amount of child support by using the timeshare percentage to calculate it.
  • Track the actual schedule to see if the outline is being followed.
  • Keep a custody journal and write notes about visitation or other matters.
  • Use the tracking documents to get the plan modified in court or with the other parent.
  • Have confidence that your plan benefits the child and meets the child's needs.

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

The top twenty cities in Wisconsin (by population, US Census Bureau, 2008) are: Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, Appleton, Waukesha, Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Janesville, West Allis, La Crosse, Sheboygan, Wauwatosa, Fond du Lac, Brookfield, New Berlin, Wausau, Beloit, Greenfield.

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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