Our custody lawyers can assist you with making a parenting plan

A parenting agreement is often done by way of a parenting plan or a consent order. A parenting plan is less formal than consent orders and is any document which is signed and agreed to by the parties and concerns parenting. While there is no formal penalty for breaching a parenting plan, in many circumstances, they are a handy document.

People use parenting plans for many reasons:

  • They want to have the parenting arrangements put in writing.
  • They want something in place they can rely on for guidance.
  • They have parenting proceedings on foot, and they want something temporary in place in the meantime.
  • They can’t see or speak to the kids without one, because of a Protection Order.

When emotions are running high after a split and children are sometimes involved it’s good to have a piece of paper which spells out who sees the kids and when. A good family lawyer can help you negotiate a parenting plan.

A parenting plan can be:

  • any written document, and;
  • signed by the parties, and;
  • details parenting matters.

Enforceability of a parenting plan

Parenting plans are not enforceable. They do not serve as a foolproof way to ensure the other parent complies with parenting arrangements. If a matter goes to Court, a Court may ‘have regard’ to a parenting plan. The Court might then decide how much weight to give to give to it depending on the individual circumstances.

High Conflict Relationships

Sometimes, despite whatever advice given to them by their Family Lawyer, parties remain in an intractable, never-ending conflict, unable to see eye to eye with the other person. These people have a lot of difficulty co-parenting. Even in these circumstances, these types of people will benefit from an agreement which is set out very clearly and in plain English

The parties may also benefit from having clear and comprehensive parameters for communicating with each other and with the child. For example, changeover arrangements which occur before and after school can enable the parties in these types of relationships to avoid seeing each other, if at all!

Where to now?

While they won’t always provide the security and certainty of final Court Orders, in many cases Parenting Plans help many people reach agreement on parenting arrangements. Cudmore Legal Family Lawyers Brisbane Co are Family Lawyers who can work with you to develop a Parenting Plan suited to your needs.