Parents who must share custody may have years of working together ahead of them. They cannot make the same clean break that those without children or with older children can expect at the end of a relationship. The younger the children are, the longer the parents can expect to see each other regularly.
Frequently, parents preparing for shared custody focus primarily on their current challenges. However, they may want to create a more robust parenting plan that addresses the future needs of the children, in addition to addressing the current circumstances of the family.
How can parents create a parenting plan that addresses current and future needs?
Allow for increasing parenting time
When there are young children in the family, such as toddlers, infants or preschoolers, limiting their separation from a primary caregiver is often important.
Parents may want to establish a parenting plan that has provisions for the children at their current age and that evolves as the children mature. Increasing the parenting time of the parent who isn’t the primary caregiver over time ensures they bond with the children as well.
Plan for future needs
As children mature, there are certain issues that are relatively predictable. Parents know that teenagers are likely to want to join sports, start dating, take on part-time jobs or create social media profiles.
Parenting plans may need to include provisions that discuss future expectations for the children and the parents. The sooner that parents establish rules that they intend to enforce across both households, the easier it may be to work together cooperatively to raise the children.
Thinking about the current and likely future demands of sharing custody can set parents up for a more effective co-parenting relationship. Parenting plans can include terms that address a family’s immediate needs and also the issues that the family is likely to face in the future.