Parallel Parenting: What It Is and How It Can Work for You

In cases of divorce or in situations where an unmarried couple is no longer together, hard feelings about the other person and the relationship can prove difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, if there are children involved, cutting the other person out of your life entirely is likely impossible. In these situations, creating child time sharing arrangements in which each parent has little contact with the other may be best. Known as parallel parenting, it lets you work towards the same goal of ensuring your child is provided for, while allowing you to have minimum interaction with one another.

What Is Parallel Parenting?

Children do best when both parents play an active and engaged role in their lives. In cases where the relationship between the parents is strained, parallel parenting may be the best possible way to ensure this occurs.

Parallel parenting involves clearly defined roles and duties, which eliminate the need for parents to interact with one another either in person or by phone, email, or text. It encourages co-parenting, while reducing the likelihood of arguments and potentially volatile interactions between the parents which could negatively impact the child. Over time, Psychology Today advises that it can also provide a way to rebuild trust and repair communications between the parties. If your divorce or breakup was highly unpleasant or you and your former partner are prone to frequent arguments, it may be a good option to explore in your child time sharing proceedings.

How Parallel Parenting Works

In any Florida child time sharing case, the parents are required to submit a parenting plan. This outlines where the child will live, how their time will be divided between the parents, and how legal decisions regarding matters affecting the child’s life, such as their education, health, and religious upbringing, will be made. Parallel parenting requires being very specific and detailed in making these arrangements, for the purpose of avoiding interactions between the parents. This includes:

Detailing exact procedures regarding pick-ups and drop-offs;
Specifying rights in terms of visiting the child in school and at recreational or sports events;
Carefully dividing time spent during the school year and on breaks, holidays, and other special occasions;
Providing firm guidelines on how changes in plans or disagreements will be handled.

Many of these are elements found in all parenting plans, but with parallel parenting they are likely to be even more detailed and specific. The plan may also call for limited communications between the parties, having them rely on emails versus talking via phone or in person. Online parent communication notebooks can prove useful in allowing the parties to share information about the child or changes in schedules, while avoiding personal exchanges and actual face to face contact.

Reach Out to Us Today for Help

Our Fort Lauderdale child time sharing attorney provides the strong, experienced legal representation you need to protect your rights and interests in interactions with your child’s other parent. Call or contact attorney Vanessa L. Prieto and request a consultation today to discuss whether parallel parenting is an option in your case.

Resource:

psychologytoday.com/us/blog/co-parenting-after-divorce/201309/parallel-parenting-after-divorce