Can Parent Visitation Be Decided Without Involving The Courts?

How To Develop a Parent Visitation Plan With An Arizona Family Lawyer

Divorce can become quite contentious – even more so when children and issues of child custody and child support are involved. Often, these cases end up being played out in court because the couple cannot work together to come to an agreement. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. It is possible to come to a parenting agreement without even stepping foot in any court.

While you can work out a parenting agreement yourself and have it notarized and submitted to the court, it is far better to work with a child custody lawyer to help you develop the plan. An attorney will help you understand your rights and your legal options so that you do not make any mistakes that can jeopardize the time you get with your children. Here’s a look at what the process of working with a family law lawyer to develop a parenting plan will be like:

Attending Family Mediation

The first step to creating a child custody plan is to attend a mediation with your respective lawyers. Mediation is designed to help the parties come to an agreement with as little confrontation as possible. A mediator will help the parties stay focused on the issues at hand and to amicably work out an arrangement that is in the best interests of everyone.

Mediation is not designed to determine who is right and who is wrong. Nor is the process right for everyone. If a couple is not willing to have a peaceful discussion or to make some concessions, this process is likely to fail. If you cannot reach some agreement through mediation, your case will have to go to court, which will be a protracted and expensive process. If you let your case go to court, you also risk getting a judgement that does not go your way. By participating in the mediation process, you have a much better chance of reaching an agreement that you are happy with.

Creating a Draft Plan For Child Visitation

You will need to formalize the agreement you reached in your mediation through a written parenting plan, which will outline your custody agreement, visitation, child support, and more. Having all this in a written, formalized document will ensure that everyone sticks to the agreement and that there is no confusion about who is responsible for what.

Your Glendale family law lawyer will draft the parenting plan or will review the draft put together by your co-parent’s lawyer. You will still be able to make adjustments at this stage. If further negotiations need to be made, your lawyer will handle it to minimize any confrontation.

Finalizing The Parent Visitation Plan

If you have no changes after reviewing the draft plan, you can finalize it. Otherwise, you will finalize it after working through the proposed changes. Your attorney will either draw up the final document or will review the final document with you. You will sign the document, and it will be notarized and then submitted to the courts.

Your attorney will continue to be available to you for counsel if you need to alter the parenting plan later or if your co-parent is not abiding by the parenting plan. Otherwise, this should be the final step. You should be able to move forward peacefully in your respective roles.

Developing a parenting plan through mediation and with the help of your child custody lawyer will help you reach a resolution more quickly than taking your case to court, which can keep conflict at a minimum. The longer the case goes on, the more tension will build and the more opportunity there will be for additional problems.

Hire a Professional Family Attorney In Glendale

Call My AZ Lawyers to talk with one of our family law lawyers about getting a child custody plan or child support. Our attorneys will work to help you get the parenting plan you need without having to go to court. However, our attorneys can also represent you in court if your case needs to go there. We represent clients in Mesa, Glendale, Tucson, and Phoenix, and we can represent you on any aspect of your divorce or parenting plan, including modifying a plan that is already in place. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with a family law attorney and discuss your options.