A parenting plan is one of the essential documents to submit to the court when going through a divorce with minor children or seeking child custody. You can either submit a parenting plan on your own, explaining why you’re seeking sole custody of your child, or a joint parenting plan with your child’s other parent, outlining how you will share the responsibilities of raising your child.
For a parenting plan in Iowa to be approved by a family court judge, it must contain several key pieces of information, including physical and legal custody designations, communication and dispute resolution guidelines, and financial responsibilities.
Custody Designations
The most critical component of a parenting plan is the custody arrangement. In Iowa, parents can have two types of custody of their minor children:
- Physical custody refers to where the child resides. A parent can have sole physical custody if they are their child’s primary custodian or joint physical custody with their child’s other parent.
- Legal custody refers to a parent’s right to make significant decisions about their child’s education, healthcare, and religious upbringing. As with physical custody, legal custody can either be sole or joint.
Parenting Time Schedule
A parenting time schedule outlines which parent the child will be with at certain times, days, or weeks. If you have joint physical custody of your child, your schedule may show that your child will swap between households each week. If you have sole physical custody, it may designate when your child will spend time with their other parent.
Decision-Making Authority
If both parents share legal custody, it’s important to define how major decisions will be made. Will decisions require agreement from both parents or only the parent the child is physically with at the time? If agreement is necessary, how will you discuss the decision with your child’s other parent?
Communication Guidelines
Effective communication between separated parents requires strict guidelines. Your parenting plan should include what types of communication are acceptable, how long you should expect a response to take for non-emergencies, and how you will communicate important information about your child’s health and education.
Transportation and Exchange Details
If you have joint custody, you should detail how you will transport your child from one household to the other. Is one parent responsible for picking up and dropping off your child? Will the exchange occur at a house or a neutral location? And what should you do if one parent is late?
Child Support Responsibilities
While child support is a somewhat separate matter that considers the parents’ relative income and how much they currently support their children, it’s a good idea to outline financial responsibilities in your parenting plan.
For example, will you split the costs of your child’s extracurricular activities? Will you reimburse each other for certain expenses related to your child? And who will claim your child as a dependent on their taxes?
Health and Medical Care
If you’re sharing legal custody of your child, you may need to outline how your child will receive medical care in more detail. For example, whose health insurance plan will your child be covered under? How are you going to schedule and share information from medical appointments? And who is responsible for medical expenses not covered by insurance?
It’s also a good idea to outline how you will handle emergency medical situations. How quickly should the other parent be notified? Which parent is the primary emergency contact? And are there other family members who can step in to help care for your child?
Education and Extracurricular Activities
When discussing your child’s education and extracurricular activities, you should determine what school district they will be in if you and their other parent live in different districts, who will attend parent-teacher conferences, and how each of you will participate in their after-school activities.
Dispute Resolution Process
If you and your child’s other parent have a dispute, you should have a process in place for resolving it. This process could include mediation, family counseling, or consulting with a neutral third party. Including a dispute resolution clause demonstrates to the court your commitment to cooperation regarding your child’s upbringing and can reduce the need for future litigation.
Contact Our Iowa Family Law Attorneys
If you are going through a divorce or child custody dispute, contact Arenson Law Group, PC at (319) 220-6700 to speak with an experienced child custody attorney about your case. We’ll walk you through the information to include in your parenting plan and help you identify the most essential aspects for you and your child.