Parenting Plan Mediation
Building a Roadmap for Successful Co-Parenting
The Importance of a Comprehensive Parenting Plan
A well-crafted parenting plan is essential for successful co-parenting after divorce or separation. It serves as a roadmap for how you and your co-parent will share responsibilities, make decisions, and handle the countless situations that arise while raising children in two households.
Florida law requires divorcing parents to submit a parenting plan to the court. Rather than having a judge impose a plan on your family, mediation allows you to create a customized plan that reflects your children's unique needs and your family's specific circumstances.
Our experienced mediators help you think through all the details—from regular schedules to holiday rotations, from medical decisions to school communications—creating a comprehensive plan that reduces future conflicts and promotes consistency for your children.
Benefits of Parenting Plan Mediation
Reduce Future Conflicts
A detailed plan addresses potential disputes before they happen, providing clear guidelines for common situations.
Provide Stability for Children
Children thrive with consistent routines and clear expectations across both households.
Maintain Parental Control
You design the plan based on your family's needs rather than accepting a judge's generic template.
Address Your Unique Situation
Include provisions specific to your children's activities, special needs, work schedules, and family traditions.
Establish Clear Communication
Set boundaries and protocols for co-parenting communication that reduce stress and misunderstandings.
Plan for the Future
Include provisions for how you'll handle changes, disagreements, and unexpected situations.
Essential Components of a Parenting Plan
Timesharing Schedule
Detailed calendar showing when children spend time with each parent, including regular schedules, weekend rotations, and weekday arrangements.
Holiday & Vacation Schedule
Specific arrangements for all major holidays, school breaks, summer vacation, and special occasions like birthdays and Mother's/Father's Day.
Parental Responsibility
Clear designation of how major decisions about education, healthcare, religious upbringing, and extra-curricular activities will be made.
Transportation & Exchanges
Who provides transportation for child exchanges, where exchanges occur, what time exchanges happen, and how costs are shared.
Communication Protocols
How parents will communicate about the children, how children contact the other parent, and expectations for response times.
Information Sharing
How parents share school records, medical information, and details about activities and events.
Extra-Curricular Activities
How activities are chosen, who pays for them, how they affect timesharing, and how transportation is handled.
Healthcare Management
Who maintains insurance, how medical expenses are divided, how routine and emergency care is handled.
Dispute Resolution
Process for resolving disagreements, often including return to mediation before court action.
Modification Process
How and when the plan can be modified as children grow and circumstances change.
Creating Your Parenting Plan
Initial Assessment
Discuss your children's current routines, needs, and schedules. Review each parent's work commitments and living arrangements.
Timesharing Discussion
Explore various timesharing options and create a schedule that works for your children's ages, school schedules, and both parents' availability.
Holiday Planning
Work through the calendar to allocate holidays, school breaks, and special occasions in a fair and practical way.
Decision-Making Framework
Determine how major decisions will be made and establish protocols for day-to-day decisions during each parent's timesharing.
Special Circumstances
Address unique aspects of your situation like special needs, activities, distance between homes, or specific parenting concerns.
Finalizing Details
Draft a comprehensive plan including all agreed provisions. Review and refine until both parents are satisfied.
Addressing Special Situations
Long-Distance Parenting
When parents live far apart, the parenting plan needs special provisions for extended timesharing periods, travel arrangements, virtual communication, and how travel costs are handled.
Unusual Work Schedules
Parents with shift work, rotating schedules, or irregular hours need flexible plans that accommodate work demands while maximizing quality time with children.
Multiple Children
Plans for families with multiple children must consider whether siblings stay together, individual children's needs and schedules, and age-appropriate arrangements.
Special Needs Children
Children with medical, developmental, or educational special needs require detailed provisions for therapies, medications, school accommodations, and specialized care.
High-Conflict Situations
When parents have difficulty communicating, the plan might include structured communication methods, public exchange locations, and very specific protocols to reduce interactions.
New Partners & Step-Families
Address how new relationships affect parenting time, introduce new partners to children, and handle step-family dynamics.
Frequently Asked Questions
How detailed should a parenting plan be?
The more detailed, the better. While it may seem tedious to discuss every scenario, a comprehensive plan prevents future conflicts. Address regular schedules, holidays, decision-making, communication, activities, healthcare, discipline philosophies, and anything else relevant to your family. You can always operate more flexibly than the plan requires, but having detailed guidelines prevents disputes.
What happens if we don't follow the parenting plan?
Once approved by the court, a parenting plan is a legally binding order. Both parents must follow it unless they mutually agree to changes. Repeated violations can result in contempt of court charges. However, parents who maintain good communication often make informal adjustments while keeping the plan as the default structure.
Can we modify the parenting plan later?
Yes. Children's needs change as they grow, and parents' circumstances evolve. You can return to mediation anytime to modify your plan. If you both agree to changes, you can submit a modified plan to the court for approval. If you don't agree, the parent seeking modification must show the court that a substantial change in circumstances warrants modification.
What if we disagree on major decisions?
If you share parental responsibility, you're expected to communicate and reach agreement on major decisions. The parenting plan should include a dispute resolution process, typically requiring you to return to mediation before asking the court to decide. Some plans give one parent final decision-making authority in specific areas (like education or healthcare) to avoid deadlock.
How do we handle changes to the schedule?
Most parenting plans include provisions for schedule changes. Common approaches include requiring notice within a certain timeframe, specifying that both parents must agree to changes, and establishing that the requesting parent covers any additional costs from the change. Good co-parents remain flexible when reasonable changes are requested.
What about teenagers who want input?
While children don't make custody decisions, mature teenagers' preferences are considered. Your parenting plan can acknowledge that an older teen's school activities, work schedule, and social life may require flexibility. Some plans include provisions for reviewing the schedule with older children to address their changing needs.
Should the parenting plan address discipline and rules?
While you can't dictate how the other parent disciplines in their home, the plan can address general philosophies and agreements like no corporal punishment, consistent bedtimes for younger children, or shared expectations about screen time and homework. The goal is consistency for children while respecting each parent's household autonomy.
What if one parent doesn't follow the plan?
First, try to communicate about the issue. If that fails, return to mediation to address the problem. Document violations in case you need to go to court. For serious or repeated violations, you may need to file a contempt motion. The court can enforce the plan through various remedies including makeup timesharing, attorney fees, or other sanctions.
Create a Parenting Plan That Works for Your Family
Schedule your free consultation to begin developing a comprehensive parenting plan through mediation.
Get in Contact with Us
Tell us about your situation and we'll get back to you within 48 hours
📧 All inquiries are sent directly to: solimanlaw@yahoo.com
Our Mediation Services
Nearby Service Areas
Helpful Resources
Florida Divorce Cost Guide
Complete breakdown of divorce costs in Florida
Online Divorce Florida
How to complete your divorce 100% online
Uncontested Divorce Florida
Fast, affordable uncontested divorce process
Lake County Mediation
Mediation services in Lake County, Florida