During the divorce process, parents often decide to work together with their attorneys to solve problems collaboratively. This helps reduce legal costs and also leaves more control in the hands of the parties involved. This control is especially important when the married couple has children. Rather than allowing a judge to make rulings about every aspect of how parents will share custody, manage visitation and make decisions about a child’s upbringing, the parents can work together to create a parenting agreement as part of their divorce.
A parenting agreement, also known as a parenting plan, is a document created through negotiation. It allows the parents to answer ahead of time many of the tough questions that often arise when physical and legal custody is jointly shared. Some of the topics that are typically covered in these agreements include:
The more that is decided and written down during the negotiation of a parenting agreement, the less room there will be for conflict and misunderstanding later. All parenting plans must be approved by a family law judge, who will decide whether the plan takes the best interests of the children into account. Once the plan is approved, the agreement is binding and cannot be changed without further approval of a judge.
To learn more about the creation of parenting agreements, speak with an experienced Minnesota divorce lawyer at Appelhof, Pfeifer & Hart, P.A. today.