Divorce and Children

Divorce and children are a topic I frequently discuss with clients in my Brentwood, TN office.  I have found it is critical to consider what is best for the children.  If the parents focus on that issue, the parenting plan falls into place.  Is it best for them to be on a 7 days off, 7 days on schedule?  Typically this is not ideal.  What about 3 days with one parent and 4 days with the other?  That scenario poses different challenges.  Each child has unique needs and those needs to be considered when drafting the parenting plan. 

Child psychologists have told me that children need both patrents in their lives.  So, if we start from that positon, then see what work schedules allow, we are moving in a positive direction.  Sometimes a parent is demanding 50% custody because they don't want to pay more child support.  I find that if i calculate the potential child support under different numbers of days, we can all understand how the money is affected.  I did this calculation this week for a couple to realize that the child support only changed $3 a month.

As a divorced parent who has experienced my own parenting plans, I know first hand that it is really helpful if you practice a parenting plan before it is drafted and a final legal document.  They always need tweaked and details refined.  It starts to get expensive when an attorney has to make changes to a plan and resubmit those changes to the court.