FAMILY LAW
PARENTING PLANS
Determining how children will be raised is never an easy issue, especially when the parents are in the middle of a divorce. Each parent's legal responsibilities and obligations in child custody, visitation and child support have traditionally been dealt with in divorce decrees. However, as the Florida Supreme Court has recognized, many divorcing couples need a way to formally deal with a variety of parenting issues that are not so easily spelled out in a court order.
Today, many Florida parents are required to submit detailed parenting plans, which address several topics related to the children's care and upbringing. A skilled family law firm can help you explore, negotiate and draft each component of your parenting plan before or after a divorce.
At the Law Office of John A. Ramsey, Jr. our lawyers help families develop sound, workable parenting plans by carefully assessing the children's needs and promoting their best interests. Our goal is to help our clients, their children, and their former spouses agree on a plan everyone can live with.
A parenting plan is meant to thoroughly address the rights and responsibilities of the parents and every major issue related to upbringing and care. In addition to addressing legal custody, primary physical custody, visitation and child support, a parenting plan can include decisions about who will have decision-making authority, and how disputes will be resolved, in specific areas of care such as:
- Each parent's access to the children
- Medical and healthcare decisions
- Education decisions
- Psychological assessments
- Moral and religious training
- Social interactions and extracurricular activities
Parenting plans are intended to be meticulous and cover a child's needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so they can become quite complicated. our attorneys can help you consider each issue thoroughly and suggest solutions that balance the children's needs with the needs of both parents.
Our attorneys will listen carefully to you so we can understand your children's world and your own goals and concerns. Working closely with you, we will develop a parenting plan that addresses your personal situation and complies with Florida law. We will then help you reach a settlement with your present or former spouse, or present a proposed parenting plan to the court.
Parenting plans are intended to provide stability, clarify questions and ensure that both the parents and the children know what to expect. Parenting plans not only reduce the need for parents to return to court to clarify these issues, the plans also give parents an opportunity to seriously consider important issues that might not otherwise be addressed at the time of a divorce.
Contact our offices today and schedule an appointment to speak with one of our experienced family law attorneys.
