Parental Rights & Responsibilities
Parents have a legal obligation to care for their children. Parents also have the right to parenting time with their children and to make important decisions about their children's welfare. This division of rights and responsibilities is written into a Court Order that is known as a Parenting Plan. Generally, both parties submit a proposed Parenting Plan to the Court within 120 days of the filing of a divorce. If the parties can't agree on a Parenting Plan, the judge will often send the parties to mediation to help them reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the judge will allocate each parent's rights and responsibilities based on the best interest of the children.
What are Parental Responsibilities?
The following Parental Responsibilities can be allocated to one or both parents depending on what is in the best interest of the children:
- Educational Responsibilities - This my include the choice of schools and/or tutors
- Health Responsibilities - This may include decisions about the children's medical, dental and psychological needs, treatment providers and any treatment related to those needs.
- Religious Responsibilities - This may include whether the children are to be raised in a specific religion, taking into consideration any previous agreements between the parents and any prior religious upbringing before the divorce.
- Extracurricular Activities - This may include what clubs, sports, teams and activities the children will be involved in and to what extent.
How is "in the best interest" of the children determined?
Children's happiness, well-being and safety should be the predominant concern of parents. In most situations, a close and loving relationship with both parents during and after a divorce will help children as they navigate through the divorce process. The decisions made regarding the children will have a significant impact on them and their future development and relationships. It is important to give careful thought to what is truly best for the children as opposed to what is best for one or the other parent. Some factors that are often considered when trying to assess "best interest" are:
- Wishes of the child (considering the child's age, maturity and ability to express wishes).
- Wishes of each parent.
- Amount of time each parent spent caring for the child before the divorce.
- Any prior agreement or pattern the parents had regarding parenting time.
- The child's relationships with parents, siblings, and other family members that will affect him/her.
- The child's adjustment to his/her home, school and community.
- The mental and physical needs of both the child and the parents.
- The distance between each parent's homes, any transportation issues, and the child's schedules.
- The ability of the parents to cooperate and their willingness to place the needs of the child ahead of his or her own.
- Whether there has been any violence or abuse in the home.
What is a Parenting Plan?
A Parenting Plan is a Court Order that states the legal rights and responsibilities and time that each parent has with regard to the children. Both parents must comply with the Parenting Plan because it is a binding Court Order. Some, but not all of the requirements that are to be included in a Parenting Plan include:
- The division or sharing of decision-making responsibilities involving the children's education, medical treatment, religion, daycare or babysitters and extracurricular activities.
- A schedule or formula for determining where the children will live on which days and times.
- A provision outlining each parent's right to access the children's various records and reports from schools, medical providers, extracurricular activities, etc.
- The address to be used for school enrollment.
- Details of how parents will notify each other of emergencies, health care, travel plans and other significant issues that relate to the children.
- The transportation arrangements for parents for the exchange of the children.
- When and how parents can communicate with the children during the other parent's parenting time.
- How to address any future modifications of the Parenting Plan.
- The circumstances where a parent can exercise the right of first refusal to watch the children if the parent with parenting time is unable to do so.