As a divorcing parent, your children remain your focus throughout the separation and divorce. Getting along is not a necessity; however, when it comes to parenting your children after divorce, this cooperative model may work better.
Co-parenting has become the preferred method of post-breakup child-rearing. It involves many moving parts, and while it may work for most, it does not work for everyone. How will you know if your situation will work? Learn a bit more about what it means to co-parent and what Texas courts say about it.
What goes into co-parenting?
Family court judges want a post-divorce situation that is in the best interests of the children. In many cases, this means having a meaningful relationship with both parents. Co-parenting assumes that both adults can work together in some way after the divorce to ensure that their children remain healthy, happy and unaffected by the personal opinions of their parents.
Co-parenting effectively requires parents to communicate to exchange information and insight into the children. Sometimes, a marriage proves too dysfunctional to allow a reasonable co-parenting relationship. Other choices, such as parallel parenting, may work better for these situations.
What are the essential elements of a parenting plan?
A parenting plan provides the details on the rights and responsibilities of each parent after a breakup. It needs to account for the timesharing or parenting schedule, showing where the children will reside. The parenting plan should act as a playbook and give you information on how to conduct schedule changes, custody swaps and deal with medical situations. The more comprehensive your parenting plan, the easier the transition to two households.
Children need stability in the wake of marital upheaval. Minimizing conflict with your former spouse may benefit everyone moving on after a divorce.
