A parenting plan can address much more than where children spend each night. Clear expectations around communication, transitions, school, activities, holidays and everyday responsibilities can prevent small uncertainties from becoming repeated sources of conflict.

Resolve WNY helps parents think through these issues systematically and organize the decisions and preferences they identify into a practical parenting-plan document.

What Can Be Included

Depending on your family's needs, your parenting plan may address:

• Regular parenting schedules
• Weekends and school breaks
• Holidays and special occasions
• Vacations and travel
• Pickups, drop-offs and transportation
• Parent-to-parent communication
• Communication with children while with the other parent
• School and educational matters
• Medical and healthcare coordination
• Extracurricular activities
• Childcare arrangements
• Sharing information and records
• Decision-making processes
• Expenses and reimbursement procedures
• Introducing significant others or changes within the household
• Technology, devices and social media
• Children's belongings between households
• Procedures for schedule changes
• Methods for addressing future disagreements
• Other family-specific considerations

How the Process Works

We begin by identifying your family's routines, concerns and areas where clearer expectations may be helpful. Resolve WNY then helps organize the information and decisions you provide into a structured parenting plan.

The plan can provide a practical framework for communication and future discussions and may also help you identify issues you want to discuss during mediation or with an attorney.

When Parents Don't Agree

You do not necessarily need to agree on everything before beginning the planning process. If both parents want help working through unresolved issues together, mediation may be the more appropriate next step.

Resolve WNY can facilitate a neutral mediation process in which parents discuss unresolved parenting issues and work toward solutions they both find acceptable.

If a disagreement requires legal advice about custody rights, an existing court order or what a parent should request in court, that question should be addressed with a licensed attorney.

A Plan That Can Grow With Your Family

Children's schedules and needs change over time. A parenting plan can help families think beyond today's schedule by identifying how future changes, new activities, school transitions and other circumstances will be addressed.

Plans can also be reviewed and updated as family circumstances change.

Important to Know

Resolve WNY provides nonlegal parenting-plan development, organization and educational support. Resolve WNY does not determine what custody arrangement is legally appropriate, advise either parent regarding legal rights or strategy, interpret an existing court order, decide what either parent should agree to, or independently create a legal custody agreement.

If parents intend for their decisions to become part of a legally enforceable agreement or court order, they should consult an appropriately licensed attorney regarding the legal requirements and appropriate next steps.

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