Co-parenting is a post-divorce child custody arrangement so both you and your ex-spouse can continue your parental obligations. During a child custody arrangement discussion, you will likely discuss many important matters regarding the well-being of your child and how you and your ex fit into the plan. This may entail, for example, where your child is attending schooling, who’s responsible to take your child to the doctors, when your child sees you and your spouse or whether your child is attending church.
A co-parenting plan gives parents the benefit of putting aside their differences, which may have resulted in the divorce, to continue raising their children without disrupting their development. However, co-parenting doesn’t work for everyone, especially for people who have continued difficulties with their ex after divorce. When this happens, you may consider negotiating with your ex for a parallel parenting plan:
Here’s what you should know:
Working with your ex-spouse by working around your ex
Like you, some people don’t have the liberty to speak freely around their ex-spouse. Your ex may have difficulties maintaining conversations, physically or verbally lash out or pose a great deal of stress on your life and decisions. Any one of these and more could create difficulties for a co-parenting plan.
When parents can’t see eye-to-eye, they may agree to a parallel parenting plan to minimize direct confrontation with each other. With this method, parents can act out their responsibilities and obligations without interfering with the other parent. In other words, with a parallel parenting plan, your child could have a more stable life.
You may have more independence over the decisions for your child with a parallel parenting plan. However, larger decisions, such as schooling, visitations and diet, would likely need to be discussed with your child’s other parent. But, by reducing the interactions in a high-conflict co-parenting plan, your child’s well-being benefits the most.
If you’re working on a child custody arrangement, you may need to know your legal options.
