When you and your Tennessee husband or wife make the decision to separate or divorce and you share a child or children together, creating a parenting plan may help minimize conflicts between you. It may, too, give your child a better sense of how life is going to be once his or her parents live in different homes, and there are many different areas you might want to address within yours.
According to the Tennessee Courts, a Tennessee parenting plan gives you and your ex something to reference in terms of how you agree to raise your child while living in separate homes.
What the parenting plan does
Ultimately, a parenting plan seeks to ensure that both parents put their child’s interests first. It encourages you and your child’s other parent to prioritize your child, rather than your own wishes and desires. It also dictates how both parents are going to maintain active roles in the child’s life after the separation or divorce.
What to address in the parenting plan
A parenting plan should outline any custody agreements you currently have. It may also help to include language about who maintains the responsibility for transporting the child between homes. You may also want to use the parenting plan to set guidelines with regard to your child’s academic, medical or religious upbringing. Many former couples also include information about how they plan to handle any future conflicts that might arise between them.
While this information offers an overview of the types of things you might want to cover in your parenting plan, this is not an exhaustive summary of all areas you may want to address.
