Parenting Plans

[TXdadof2]

I have been doing some research on parenting plans and some of the propaganda I am running across implies that the parent that presents the best (or only) parenting plan is looked upon favorably by the court, GAL and attorneys.  

1)   If this is the case, are there parenting plan guides / preparation material available that you would recommend (retail or free)?
2)   If not, how does one go about showing the courts and associated parties that they are attempting everything possible to resolve the custody dispute as civil as possible with the STBX and take the decision making custody details out of the courts hands?

[socrateaser]

>1)   If this is the case, are there parenting plan guides /
>preparation material available that you would recommend
>(retail or free)?

The word "best" is completely open ended. One person's best plan is another's worst nightmare. I think that the advice you have received is not the "best."

As far as what's available, most jurisdictions have template parenting plans, and you would do well to adopt the one preferred in your jurisdiction. Ask your attorney or the county court facilitator's office.


>2)   If not, how does one go about showing the courts and
>associated parties that they are attempting everything
>possible to resolve the custody dispute as civil as possible
>with the STBX and take the decision making custody details out
>of the courts hands?

Don't try. Your job is to attempt to formulate a plan that is "in the child's best intererests," regardless of who benefits or suffers as a consequence. The court must rule by determining the child's best interests, therefore that is the ONLY rule that you need consider.

How to consider it, however, is the million dollar question. And, the best answer I can give, is that you go to court and watch a few custody hearings with your judge, and try to discover how he thinks...assuming that your attorney can't tell you. Also, if you're still in the process of selecting an attorney, you need to find out how much experience with your judge the attorney has -- that's your best insurance to get the best outcome for the least cost.

[DecentDad]

Hi,

In my case, we went through a custody evaluator, the clinical psychologist who utlimately recommended a parenting plan to the court.

My attorney (and prior attorney) both recommended I take a ten-week course by some renowned parenting expert, who they both strongly felt the court respects.  So I did.

This well-respected expert also makes herself available for private consultation on parenting issues and developing parenting plans.  Naturally, I did that too based upon my attorney's advice.  So, with this "expert's" help, I drafted a 13 page parenting plan that had all sorts of clauses that addressed many of the issues in my daughter's situation.  I thought it looked pretty good, though it was a bit more stringent than my first draft that was half the length (before the expert's feedback).

After all that preparation, when I was meeting with our evaluator, I mentioned that I took her class.  His response was, "So I guess that means that in your pile of documents you gave me is one of those twenty page parenting plans?"

In his final report, he made negative reference to many parts of my parenting plan... the sad irony is that many of the parts he didn't like were added after I consulted that expert, who emphasized their importance.

My ex provided no parenting plan at any time.  She didn't get criticized for it.

There's so much wildcard element in the evaluator and judge.  All you can propose is what you think is RIGHT and don't overthink it.

DD