When you share a child with someone in Pennsylvania but are unable to come to terms with custody and parenting time, you may need the state’s court system to step in and develop custody terms on your behalf. When you do so, the state may ask you to submit a parenting plan. A parenting plan sets guidelines both parents agree to meet when raising the child they share in their separate homes.
Per the Pennsylvania General Assembly, there are certain elements you should address when creating your own parenting plan. Some of the areas you may want to cover in yours are as follows.
The child’s agreed-upon schedule
Use your parenting plan to outline which parent your child lives with and when. In addition to describing your day-to-day custody arrangement, you may also want to use your parenting plan to stipulate how you plan to share the child on vacations, holidays and so on.
Information about educational or religious upbringing
It may also help prevent future conflicts if you outline how you plan to raise your child in terms of religion and education. If you plan to raise your child within a particular church or religious organization, state as much. Similarly, if your child is to attend a private school until he or she graduates, outline this in your parenting plan.
You may also want to use your parenting plan to dictate specifics about who takes the child from one parent’s home to the next. You might also address when and how each parent should communicate with the child when he or she is in the other’s care, among other possible inclusions.
