When the romantic relationship between you and your child’s other parent ends in North Dakota, you need to figure out how you plan to raise the child you share moving forward. Any time you ask the court to review or establish an order for parenting time, you need to submit a detailed parenting plan. The parenting plan sets guidelines both parents agree to meet when it comes to raising the child you share in separate homes.
Per the North Dakota Legislature, if you and your former partner are unable to agree on the terms of a parenting plan, you may ask the state’s family court system to draft one on your behalf. In doing so, the state sets guidelines it feels are in your child’s best interests. Regardless of whether you draft the plan yourselves or have the court help you, there are certain elements the plan must include. Some of these components are as follows.
Decision-making responsibilities
A solid parenting plan should dictate who maintains responsibility for making decisions with regard to your shared child, and when. Many parents include language in their parenting plans dictating that the parent caring for the child at the moment has the ability to make minor decisions, but that both must confer when the decision involves something more serious.
Parenting time and scheduling information
Your parenting plan should also cover who has the child in his or her care and when. The more thorough you are here, the better the chances of avoiding conflicts in the future. Consider including what you plan to do on holidays, summer vacations, birthdays and so on.
While these are some of the important elements you need to include in a North Dakota parenting plan, this is not a comprehensive list of all components to cover therein.