Essential Components of a Child Custody Agreement

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Essential Components of a Child Custody Agreement

• HHS Lawyers and legal consultants

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• Child custody can be the toughest aspect of
  separation. To make sure the best interests of
  children are addressed and that your rights as a
  parent are upheld, you need to know as much as
  possible about custody arrangements. You can
  start by learning about legal terms if youre
  negotiating a visitation agreement with a
  lawyers assistance.  A family lawyer can draft
  help to ensure that you dont accidentally omit
  any essential information for a judge to review
  and approve.
• There is a lot of flexibility in what can be
  included in a child custody agreement, but there
  are some important details that must be included
  in the contract, which are as follows

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Provisions regarding legal custody of the
children

• There are several types of custody arrangements
  such as single custody gives one parent both
  legal and physical custody of a child. When both
  the parents share physical and/or legal custody
  of the child is known as joint custody. Split
  custody is when the custody of multiple children
  is split between the parents. All custody
  agreements will describe who has custody of the
  children and what type of custody will be given
  to both the parents.

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Provisions regarding legal custody of the children

• There are several types of custody arrangements
  such as single custody gives one parent both
  legal and physical custody of a child. When both
  the parents share physical and/or legal custody
  of the child is known as joint custody. Split
  custody is when the custody of multiple children
  is split between the parents. All custody
  agreements will describe who has custody of the
  children and what type of custody will be given
  to both the parents.

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Visitation schedule

• A visitation schedule outlines when a child
  spends time with both parents. The agreement
  outlines the visitation rights of either parent
  where the child is every day of the
  yearincluding holidays. A complete schedule will
  have the following
• A weekday schedule This is the basic schedule
  that has to be followed through the year that
  shows when the child is with each parent.
• A holiday schedule This shows where the child
  will spend time during holidays, school breaks,
  and other special occasions.
• Vacation time This is an alternate schedule for
  school breaks and vacations.
• Special events If there are any special or
  one-time events where the normal schedule changes.

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Responsibility for decisions Regarding Childrens
care and Upbringing

• A childs upbringing involves a series of
  decisions, some more significant than others. A
  child custody agreement should address whether
  and to what extent the non-custodial parent will
  be involved in making major decisions for your
  children. It would describe each parents role in
  decisions regarding education, religion and
  healthcare. Also consider how to address
  disciplinary rules and consistently applied by
  both parents.

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Childrens expenses and making decisions related
to significant expenses

• You need to consider issues of insurance, medical
  care, childcare and education. For example, which
  of the parents health insurance will carry the
  children? If one parent wants the child to attend
  private school, who will be responsible for
  paying the cost of tuition? You should also
  consider which parent is entitled to claim the
  child as a dependent for tax purposes.

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• Duration of an agreement
• Some child custody agreements contain the
  duration of the custodial rights to take into
  account the changing circumstances of the parents
  and the children. This is also a useful way to
  monitor the effectiveness of the agreement.
• Relocation provision of custodial parents
• We live in a mobile society, and its not
  uncommon for people to move across town or across
  the country for personal and professional
  reasons. Custody agrees should also contain
  provisions in the event of relocation.

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• How Parents communicate with one another
• Considering the provision regarding co-parent
  communications regarding custody details, and in
  emergency situations. For example, how do you
  contact your former spouse if you want to change
  the weekly scheduled visitation? How much notice
  is required to request changes? How do you
  communicate with your spouse if theres an
  emergency? How to one parent notify the other
  parent in the event of an emergency?

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How will disputes be resolved or what happens if
a parent wants to change the custody agreement?

• A custody agreement should be realistic.
  Disagreements can and will arise. A parents
  personal and professional situation may change. A
  custody agreement acknowledges that disputes
  occur and serious life changes may affect the
  custody agreement. Your agreement should explain
  how disputes will be resolved and how proposed
  changes will be handled.
• If you would like to formalize your agreement and
  make sure it contains the necessary provisions to
  be valid, you can contact HHS lawyers who can
  assist in the drafting of the custody agreement.
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