The Attorneys at Pacific Northwest Family Law have seen hundreds of parenting plans. We’re often called on the fix and amend the parenting plans that people got working with other attorneys or they created when they tried to save money by doing it themselves. Here are eleven ways you can screw up your parenting plan (all drawn from real life):
11. Change your ex’s name to “Satan” in your copy of the parenting plan, in your phone, and in your email contacts.
10. Make a plan that requires you to mostly drive during your parenting time because of the distance between parents.
9. Leave decisions for when you see the kids up to the other parent.
8. Include lots of rules about when you can have telephone calls with the children and when you can’t, how long the calls must last, and who can be present when the call is made.
7. Insist on strict obedience to the parenting plan at all times—no exceptions.
6. Get the kids in as many different sports as possible.
5. Create a plan that revolves around one child’s sport.
4. Let the kids decide whether to follow the parenting plan or not—in fact, put the kids in charge of the whole thing.
3. Make a parenting plan that has never been followed—ever.
2. Include the requirement that you always have to get your ex’s approval for any babysitter.
1. Stop spending time with your kids.
Do you have more? Tell us in the comments.
And if you want to avoid a bad parenting plan, and you live in Spokane, the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Spokane, Yakima, Bellevue, Olympia, or somewhere nearby, we can help. Call Pacific Northwest Family Law at 877-738-0777 to schedule a case evaluation.
