What is a Parenting Plan?
Parenting plan is a term that refers to an agreement between parents or the court order, which defines provisions for custody and visitation. While the parenting plan decides when the child can be with the non-custodial parent, it also determines which one of the parents has the better ability to make decisions concerning the child’s education and health.
The Tennessee legislature has passed legislation that requires parents to attempt to settle their differences in a divorce by the use of mediation and parenting plans where the parties attempt to agree as to where the children will stay and when. This process is new, January 1, 2001, and will require some getting used to by the Courts and the lawyers; expect some additional costs until all the kinks are worked out.
This is the plan that sets out the schedule and rules for each parent’s time with the child. All custody orders (except for those in restraining orders) must include parenting plans. The plan may be very detailed and cover many issues about the child, or it may be very general and address only a few issues. All parenting plans in court orders must set out the minimum amount of parenting time (visitation) and access a parent without custody is entitled to have.
