Nicole Sauvola, Esquire, Palm Beach Florida Attorney provides Law Update in the SAUVOLAW UPDATE

Sauvola & Associates, P.A.

Updated: October 2008

SUGGESTED PARENTING PLAN FOR PARENTS WITH MINOR CHILDREN

This suggested parenting plan will be used to assist the Court or your lawyers in the preparation of your Marital Settlement Agreement and/or Final Judgment in your case. The Marital Settlement Agreement and/or Final Judgment entered by the Court after trial will include some form of written Parenting Plan addressing all of the issues which are relevant to your minor children and the facts of your case.

The Marital Settlement Agreement and/or Final Judgment must contain provisions for the allocation of parental responsibilities including decision-making and parenting time. This suggested Parenting Plan will be used to establish the final Parenting Plan in your case. This Parenting Plan Form does not include every possible issue that may be relevant to the facts of your case. A section entitled "Other Terms" is available for you to identify unique issues that you may have in your case. If you need more space than is provided, attach additional pages to the form. Please be sure to sign any additional pages which are added to identify these unique issues.

In order to prepare an agreement or Final Judgment for the parties where children are involved, it is the position of our office that both parties should be jointly involved in creating a written Parenting Plan whenever possible. If you are unable to prepare a joint written Parenting Plan to which both the Mother an Father agrees, you should use this checklist to prepare your own written Parenting Plan which you believe represents the best interest of your child(ren). Without an agreement between the parties, the Court must enter its own plan which may be a recommended plan presented by one of the parties or may be entirely different. Whether the Court approves your plan or enters its own, the Parenting Plan will become a Court Order. Therefore, it is the position of our office that your participation in and preparation of this Checklist will at least allow you the opportunity to address and present your position on all the issues affecting the needs of your child(ren).

This is a:

q Full Joint Parenting Plan (we agree to everything and the plan is signed by both parties.)

q Partial Joint Parenting Plan (we agree to some things and the plan is signed by both parties.)

q Parenting Plan prepared by one party (no agreement).

If this is a partial joint Parenting Plan or a Parenting Plan prepared by one party, please identify in the section identified below the issues that you and your spouse have not agreed on. A final hearing may be necessary to address those issues.

The Petitioner is the child(ren)’s:

qFather qMother qOther Party (state relationship to child(ren) _____________________________________

The Co-Petitioner/Respondent is the child(ren)’s:

qFather qMother qOther Party (state relationship to child(ren)_____________________________________

The child(ren) are:

Full Name of Child	Present Address	Sex	Date of Birth

Section A: Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (Decision-making)

1. The parties understand that day-to-day decisions such as minor training or correction, minor medical and dental care, curfew, chores, allowance, clothing, hygiene, etc. will be made by the party who has the child(ren) at the time such decisions are necessary.

2. Each party will inform the other party of any changes with their address and/or phone numbers in advance.

3. Both parties will provide the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all medical, dental, and mental health care providers. Either party may authorize emergency care, but if possible both parties agree to contact the other party first.

4. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court for good cause shown, state law provides that both parties have access to the records of the child(ren) including school, medical, dental, and mental health records, pursuant to Florida law.

5. For purposes of school attendance only, the child(ren)’s residence will be with the:

qMother qFather qOther Party

We have identified below whether the major decisions (Education, Medical/Dental Mental Health, and Religious) will be joint or will be made by one party. If major decision will be made by someone other than one of the parents, check the “Other Party” column.

Type of Major Decision-Making	Joint	Father	Mother	Other Party
Educational, if needed specify:	q	q	q	q
Medical/Dental/Mental Health, if needed specify:	q	q	q	q
Religious, if needed specify:	q	q	q	q
Extracurricular and Recreational Activities, if needed specify:	q	q	q	q
Other (please identify):	q	q	q	q
Other (please identify):	q	q	q	q
Other (please identify):	q	q	q	q
Other (please identify):	q	q	q	q

Section B: Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (Parenting Time)

Parties are encouraged to create a Parenting Plan that meets the needs of the child(ren) and individual needs of their family. If you have any unique issues, please identify them under “other” or provide an attachment to this Parenting Plan Checklist. If a party fails to comply with a provision of this plan, child support is not affected.

1. Weekday and Weekend Schedule during the School Year (You may attach a calendar or other document to identify your schedule.)

The child(ren) will be in the care of the Father. List the days of the week and times.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The child(ren) will be in the care of the Mother List the days of the week and times.

The child(ren) will be in the care of another party, specify who____________________. List the days of the week and times.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transportation and drop-off/pick-up arrangements will be as follows:

2. Summer Schedule

q The weekday and weekend schedule above will apply for all 12 calendar months with no specific changes during the summer.

q During the summer months, the child(ren) will be in the care of the Father. List the days of the weeks and times.

q During the summer months, the child(ren) will be in the care of the Mother. List the days of the weeks and times.

The child(ren) will be in the care of another party, specify who____________________. List the days of the week and times.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transportation and drop-off/pick-up arrangements will be as follows:

3. Holidays and Special Occasions

The following schedule will take priority over the schedules in Sections 1 and 2. Please check all that apply and indicate the time and place of exchange, which party the child(ren) will spend time with, and the schedule, i.e. even/odd/all years, alternating events, etc. Identify any unique situations under “Other”. If a box is not checked, the regular parenting time schedule will apply to that holiday event.

Event	Name of party spending time with child(ren)	Odd years	Even years	All Years	Time & Place of exchange
q Spring Break
q Easter
q Mother’s Day/Weekend
q Memorial Day/Weekend
q Father’s Day/Weekend
q July 4^th
q Labor Day/Weekend
q Halloween
q Thanksgiving Day/Break
q Christmas Eve
q Christmas Day
q Week 1 of Winter Break
q Week 2 of Winter Break
q Children’s Birthdays
q Other (Identify)
q Other (Identify)
q Other (Identify)

q Other parenting time arrangements:

4. Number of Overnights: Based upon the foregoing schedule(s), Mother will have ____ total overnights per year and Father will have ______ total overnights per year. Note: These two numbers must equal 365.

5. Telephone Access

q Each parent may have reasonable telephone contact with the child(ren) during the child(ren)’s normal waking hours.

q Other: _________________________________________________________________________________

6. Travel and Vacation Plans

q The parties agree that should either of them require out-of-state or any type of overnight travel with the child(ren), each party will inform the other party of such travel and vacation plans, including notice and contact information.

q Other: _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Relocation

Relocation refers to moving the child(ren)’s residence so that the geographic ties between the child(ren) and the other parent are substantially changed requiring a modification of allocation of parental responsibilities (decision-making and parenting time).

The parties understand that after the Decree or Final Order is issued, if a party wants to relocate, he/she must file a Motion with the Court, pursuant to Florida law and obtain court permission to relocate, unless the parties have submitted to the Court a written agreement/stipulation (with verified signatures of all parties) allowing one of the parties to relocate with the minor child(ren) together with a new proposed parenting plan which addresses how the parties intent to address all the parenting issues given the fact that one of the parties is now relocating with the minor child(ren).

q Neither the Father or Mother have current plans to relocate with the child(ren).

The qFather qMother qOther Party is planning to relocate with the child(ren) to ____________________(city) ________________ (state) on ______________________ (date) and we have agreed to the following terms:

Section D:Financial Obligations for the Benefit of the Child(ren)

1. Child Support (all child support agreements must be reviewed by the Court to see if the agreement complies with the child support guidelines):

a. Child Support Calculation

q Child Support shall be paid per a previously issued Administrative or Court Order in _____________________ (DOR number or case number) issued on ________________ (date) in ___________________ (County).

q The amount of child support agreed to by the parties is based upon the attached Child Support Worksheet which reflects an amount of child support of $___________ per month.

q The amount of child support agreed to by the parties is not based upon the attached Child Support Worksheet which reflects an amount of child support of $__________ per month. Please identify the agreed upon amount and the reasons why you agree to deviate from the amount identified in the Child Support Worksheet. (The Court must approve any deviation from the guideline amount and will do so only for compelling reasons if this amount is lower than the guideline amount.)

b. Child Support Agreement

The qFather qMother shall pay child support to the qFather qMother qOther Party in the sum of $ _____________ per month beginning on _________________________ (date).

Child support payments shall be paid: (check one)

q To the Department of Revenue – Child Support Division (IDO – Income Deduction Order);

q To the Department of Revenue – Child Support Division (direct pay)

q Directly to the qFather qMother qOther Party

Child support payments shall be paid: (check one)

qweekly qbi-weekly qtwice a month qmonthly qOther: ________________________ and will be paid on the _____________ day of the qweek qmonth.

It is the responsibility of the Obligee (the person receiving the payment) to complete the appropriate forms to activate an income deduction order (IDO)

2. Medical, Dental, Vision, and Mental Health Insurance and Extraordinary/Out-of Pocket Medical Expenses

q Father shall provide qmedical qdental qvision qmental health insurance for the child(ren). If not all children, please identify the names of the children the Father will be providing insurance for:

_________________________________________

and/or

q Mother shall provide qmedical qdental qvision qmental health insurance for the child(ren). If not all children, please identify the names of the children the Mother will be providing insurance for:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

and/or

q ________________________________ (name of party) shall provide qmedical qdental qvision qmental health insurance for the child(ren). If not all children, please identify the names of the children that this party will be providing insurance for:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

q Extraordinary Medical Expenses are defined as uninsured expenses, including co-payments and deductible amounts in excess of $250.00 per child per calendar year. The parties agree that extraordinary medical, dental, vision, or mental health expenses for the child(ren) shall be divided with the Father paying ___________ %, the Mother paying ____________%, and the Other Party paying _____________%.

q Other: _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

A “Notice to Employer to Deduct for Health Insurance” can be completed by the Obligee (person receiving) and served upon the Obligor (person paying) and Obligor’s employer.

3. Extraordinary Expenses (Private schools, school/sport/extracurricular activities, etc.)

You may use this section to document any agreements made between the parties that are not required by law to be addressed such as private schools, extracurricular and recreational activities, automobile access or insurance, or any other agreements affecting the general welfare of the child(ren). Note: Agreements made under this provision, if approved by the Court and made a part of the Decree or Order, become enforceable by the Court.

q The parties agree to the following:

4. OPTIONAL - Post-Secondary Expenses (college, trade school, etc.)

You may use this section to document any agreements made between the parties that are not required by law to be addressed.

Post-secondary education expenses CANNOT be ordered by the Court without an agreement. If you agree that they should be paid by the parents, please indicate the terms of the agreement below.

NOTE: Agreements made under this provision, if approved by the Court and made a part of the Decree or Final Order, become enforceable by the Court.

q Post-secondary education expenses for the child(ren) shall be divided with the Father paying _________% and Mother paying __________% of every expense checked below. Post-secondary expenses include the following:

q Tuition (indicate any restrictions or maximum monetary amounts) _______________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

q Room and Board

q Books

q Fees

q Travel

q Other: ______________________________________________________________________________

Section E: Child Tax Exemption

Only one party may claim a deduction for each child on his/her income tax return. Both parties agree to prepare appropriate IRS forms, for example, Form 8332 “Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents” IRS link to forms: http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html

Note:

� If there is no agreement, the dependency exemption will be divided between the parties. These rights shall be allocated between the parties in proportion to their contributions to the costs of raising their children.

� A parent shall not be entitled to claim a child as a dependent, if he or she has not paid all court-ordered child support for that tax year or if claiming the child as a dependent would not result in any tax benefit.

“F” = Father “M” = Mother “O” = Other party

Full Name of Child	Deduction to be claimed every year by:			Deduction to be claimed during odd years			Deduction to be claimed during even years
	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO
	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO
	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO
	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO	qF	qM	qO

q Other: _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Section F: Other Terms

q If the parties cannot reach an agreement in the future on any issues involving the child(ren), they agree to enter into qmediation qarbitration qparenting coordinator qdecision-maker at their own cost.

q The parties will exchange financial information on an annual basis, for example, income, verification of insurance and its costs.

q Identify below any issues or agreements not already identified in this agreement.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Minor changes may be made at any time if both parties agree to the changes. A written agreement to modify child support, the primary caretaking party, or other substantial changes to the parenting plan should be filed with the Court along with a proposed order for the Court to approve the modification.

Please re-read this document carefully to make sure it accurately reflects your entire agreement. Items agreed upon outside of this document may not be enforceable.

Your signature below indicates that you have read, understand, and agree with all terms of this agreement. This document should be signed in the presence of a notary public or court clerk.

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

Petitioner’s Signature Date qCo-Petitioner’s qRespondent’s Signature Date

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

Signature of Attorney, if applicable Date Signature of Attorney, if applicable Date

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

Petitioner’s Address Co-Petitioner/Respondent’s Address

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

City, State, Zip Code City, State, Zip Code

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

(Area Code) Home Telephone Number (Area Code) Home Telephone Number

___________________________________ ____________________________________________

(Area Code) Work Telephone Number (Area Code) Work Telephone Number

Subscribed and affirmed, or sworn to before me Subscribed and affirmed, or sworn to before me

in the County of ________________________, in the County of _________________________,

State of ____________________, this _______ State of ____________________, this ________

day of ________________, 20 ____. day of ________________, 20 ____.

My Commission Expires: _________________ My Commission Expires: ___________________

_____________________________________ ________________________________________

Notary Public/Clerk Notary Public/Clerk

(IF ONLY ONE PARTY SIGNS THE PARENTING PLAN, COMPLETE A CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE.)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on ________________________ (date) the original was filed with the Court and a true and accurate copy of the PARENTING PLAN was served on the other party by:

qHand Delivery, qE-filed, qFaxed to this number: ___________________, or qby placing it in the United States mail, postage pre-paid, and addressed to the following:

To: _______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ ______________________________________

Your signature

Notice: Please note that if you have been charged with a criminal offense, you will likely benefit from consulting a criminal defense lawyer. If you would like to contact our office for further information or consultation, check out our website consult request at the Sauvola & Associates Contact Page

Copyright © 2008 Nicole Sauvola. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except as follows: You may link this article to your website, either directly or through a SauvoLaw index page, provided your link does not depict this article, Sauvolaw Update, Sauvolaw.com, or its author in a negative manner.

FLORIDA - PARENTING PLAN (OCTOBER 2008 PARENTING BILL)

By Nicole Sauvola

Sauvola & Associates, P.A.

Updated: October 2008

4. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court for good cause shown, state law provides that both parties have access to the records of the child(ren) including school, medical, dental, and mental health records, pursuant to Florida law.

Event

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE