Parenting Time Plans
Parenting Time Plans:
Raising children presents challenges for all parents. When parents live in separate homes the challenges are greater because relationships become more complicated. Sometimes parents disagree about how much time children should spend with each of them. The link below will help parents reach agreements about parenting time (access) with their children.
A committee of judicial officers, mental health providers and attorneys created a model parenting time plan after consulting with nationally known experts on child development and after reviewing current research and guidelines from other communities. Decisions about access depend on many circumstances, but the age of the child is very important. This model offers information about what children learn, feel, and need at different ages. It also provides suggested plans appropriate for each age group and language that may be included in court orders.
Children describe the loss of contact with a parent as the worst consequence of divorce or parental separation. Unless special circumstances exist, preserving a healthy and ongoing relationship between children and both their parents after divorce or separation is of utmost importance. Positive involvement with both parents furthers the child's emotional and social development, academic achievement and overall adjustment.
Written access plans provide children and parents with some assurances of maintaining meaningful contact and can prevent future conflict. This model is intended to encourage open dialog and cooperation between parents. The Court prefers that parents reach agreements about schedules voluntarily. When parents reach agreements about schedules on their own, they are more likely to remain cooperative as their children grow up. Children do best when their parents cooperate. The reverse is also true. Children who experience ongoing conflict between parents are at high risk for suffering serious long-term emotional problems.
The key to a successful custody arrangement is a parenting plan that should state the agreements parents reach about legal custody, the sharing of rights and privileges, and the schedule for access. For more information about possible time sharing plans, see the links below:
http://azcourts.gov/Portals/31/ParentingTime/PPWguidelines.pdf
http://www.utcourts.gov/specproj/dived/Model_Parenting_Plans.pdf