WordPress

Creating a successful custody schedule can be a challenge but it doesn’t have to be when you have the right tools. 2houses is that tool that I recommend to every parent. It is a co-parenting app and digital program that both parents, and even the kids, have access to it. On it are places to store documents, journal, share photos and there is an in-depth and easy to use calendar to program in your custody schedule with ease. So let’s look at how to create that successful custody schedule with 2houses.

First: Create a Schedule

The very first thing you want to do is create a custody schedule by looking at all of the schedules that you have to work with. This includes your schedule, your co-parent’s schedule, school and daycare schedules, babysitter’s (if you use one regularly) schedules and the custody agreement, or court ordered, schedule. From there, build a schedule that works for both of you.

It should be noted that the custody agreement can be a range of different arrangements such as 50/50, every other weekend, odd days, 2-2-3 and so on. This will affect how you set your schedule with 2houses. In addition, while court ordered visitation schedules usually have firm rules, there are often room to shift schedules as you agree. If you want changes to your schedule, make sure that you discuss it as a co-parenting couple and not try to force it through as that could lead you both back in court.

Second: Program It In

You have your schedule, you know what activities the kids are doing, what the day to day looks like and when the kids are with each respective parent, now it’s time to schedule the calendar for 2houses. This can be a pain with many different apps but 2houses makes it really simple, you just have to remember these few tips.

1. Set the type of custody schedule model you have, such as 50/50. 2houses lets you set the custody agreement on the calendar, which helps with programming it and means fewer steps when you do.
2. Once you have that, choose a start date of when the custody schedule will start. You can also assign colours to each parent and even events that are mutual. One of the best parts of 2houses is that you can hit the button, “repeats until…” and you don’t have to put in each individual week.
3. When you are at this stage, click on the day of the week and assign which parent will spend the night.
4. Add additional appointments and events and mark who needs to attend or take the kids to them.
5. Choose a place or time for exchanges of the kids. This is great so the kids know when they need to be ready and you can meet in neutral spaces if you need to.
6. Save the schedule and it will appear, colour coordinated, on your calendar. You can edit the schedule as you need and you can add other appointments/events as they come up.

It really is simple to program it in and I find that is often half the battle when it comes to creating a successful custody schedule with your ex-partner.

Third: Be Honest and Send Notes and Document!

Now that you have it all programmed into the calendar, 2houses takes it to the next stage and allows you to send notes, journal or add documents to it. The folders to add documents really helps with organizing things and you won’t have to go back and forth to access things, which helps keep frustration levels low when co-parenting and navigating all the documents.

The other part, the journal, helps talk about how the custody schedule is working. You can give feedback, talk about what needs to be changed and offer suggestions. You can even send requests to have things changed on your scheduled visitation days.

Everything is in writing so you won’t forget during handoff and you also will be able to confirm a response.

When you are documenting, make sure that you are honest. Don’t keep doing something that isn’t working for you because that can lead to resentment, which can lead to tension in the co-parenting relationship. Instead, talk it out.

Fourth: Review, Review, Review

Which brings us to review, review, review. Custody schedules can be modified and they will change depending on the kids. Summers may look completely different than during the school year. Certain extracurricular activities can affect visitation schedules so you may need to shift. Job promotions might change availability for handoffs.

The main point is that life happens and sometimes you have to make changes to the custody schedule. That’s why you should review it every time there is a major event that can affect it but also check it frequently through the year to ensure that it is working for everyone. Thankfully, the 2houses app allows for everything to be reviewed easily…and you don’t even have to meet, you can just send messages.

Fifth: Use the App to Keep Communication Open

Finally, one of the best ways for a custody schedule to be successful is to communicate. Often, when we have misunderstandings or frustrations in the co-parenting relationship, it is because things have not been communicated properly. 2houses makes communication easy through the calendar and journal so make sure you use it whenever you need to make a change, need something to be remembered or when tensions are higher and it’s better for you both to step back and communicate over the app instead of in person.

Ass you can see, the 2houses app is set up to make life easier for co-parenting. And when it’s easier, you can focus on the important things in life…your kids, your work, and all the things that you need to get done in the day…while 2houses focuses on all the rest.

Some professions will prosper following a divorce, while others will suffer. If you are going through a divorce, you should be able to control the situation with your ex because whatever effects it has on your work will undoubtedly have an impact on your children/financing.

Also read: https://cadivorce.com/news/divorce-and-your-career/

How Divorce Harms Careers as a parent in the USA

Low Productivity

It is common knowledge that a couple’s mental health suffers after divorce. One’s mental health may suffer as a result of divorce procedures, which could reduce productivity at work. The need for breaks and fatigue might influence business owners, which can result in a shortage of funds for one’s lifestyle. 

Double Work

Two heads are better than one, as the adage goes. Financial expenses can always be shared by a couple who lives together. The custodial partner may try to take up an additional job or work twice as hard in order to meet their obligations when couples are divorced or separate because they are responsible for paying all of the expenditures associated with raising the children alone.

Legal Fees

Divorce is not something that should be taken lightly, as every American citizen is aware. To settle court costs and appointments, pay attorneys, and other expenses, ex-couples must withdraw from their savings or spend out of the income from their businesses or take a loan.  

Killing Your Chance for A Promotion

Divorces can make people more stressed out, and if your employer knows that you’re going through a difficult divorce, it could ruin your chances of getting a promotion because there’s a slim chance that the divorce’s emotional, mental, and physical repercussions won’t influence you. A raise in pay from a job advancement translates into extra luxuries for the kids.

Killing Your Chance to Move for Inter State Promotion

The United States has numerous relocation laws for divorced parents with children. Unless your former husband is helpful and understanding. If you have a promotion in another state after a divorce and your ex-spouse refuses to cooperate, the legislation in some states prohibits you from moving, which can have a significant impact on your career.

Excessive Child/Spousal support

Due to the fact that child support rates vary from state to state, the spouse who has the higher income may be required to contribute a greater amount toward both child support and spousal support payments, as well as the costs associated with going to court.  

Retirement

When one partner decides to start the divorce or separation process during retirement, there are a few things that they need to take into consideration.

Concerns such as the grounds for retirements, the question of whether or not a pension will be offered, and the question of whether or not the offered pension will be dispersed adequately. When the payment for child support is due, who will be responsible for making the payment, and how will this work? These concerns need to be addressed, and it is possible that doing so will extend the period of time during which one is expected to be retired. This delayed retirement could result in a number of problems, including stress, exhaustion, resentment, and decreased productivity.

How Divorce Can Help Parent’s Career in The USA

Focus

After going through the process of getting a divorce, many people find that they are more inspired and productive than ever before. The former partner does not have to deal with the stress associated with a divorce, the proceedings associated with getting a divorce, or meetings with lawyers. They devote every spare moment they have to increasing their professional standing, which could eventually lead to promotions.

Child/spousal support and alimony

Some ex-spouses are made to pay child support, particularly if they have custody of the kids. Others receive monthly spousal support in addition to their income. The ex-mood spouse’s is likely to improve at work as a result, and increased productivity can help them advance their professions.

Legal Awards

Ex-spouses in some marriages may actually receive a sizable payout for the time they wasted with the other partner, particularly if there were difficulties with domestic abuse and infidelity. Additionally, spouses can claim that they have grown accustomed to a particular way of life, in which case the judges will provide them money to invest in their enterprises and individual careers.

How It Can be Managed

Effective Communication

To balance career progression, effective communication is required. Effective communication between the parents will prevent sentiments of hostility or resentment.

It’ll support career focus. If one spouse receives an out-of-state promotion that forces them to move, good communication will also aid in a pleasant transition.

Therapy

Ex-spouses who engage in effective counseling can assist manage the problem.  

Maturity

Both ex-spouses should set aside their differences and strike an agreement for the sake of their children and the management of their emotions to prevent a decrease in workplace productivity.

Legal Intervention

This is the most effective measure to make sure divorce/separation does not affect a person’s career. A lawyer should be involved that will make sure that all legal proceedings are just so that one spouse does not feel cheated in any way.

Conclusion

Going through a divorce in this day and age is very strenuous compared to how it was during the previous years. A divorce lawyer can be of great help to you on your divorce settlements and agreements. As a parent, your career has to be taken very importantly because this will be the base of your children’s financial and physical health.

It is important that you communicate with your lawyer effectively so that he can come up with steps to assist you while going through a  divorce or separation in order to protect your career and financial health.

Also see:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/frawleypollock/2022/02/01/career-scenarios-that-can-influence-your-divorce-settlement/?sh=58b519b03446

Money—they say that it can make or break a relationship. And everyone who has ever had to deal with difficult financial situations all know how true that can be. In the UK, a large number of divorced couples stated financial reasons as one of the main stressors that led to their divorce. And when you are parents, that financial stressors can follow you through to how you manage expenses as a co-parent.

Unfortunately, money, when you have kids, is not something that you can avoid discussing so why not learn how to manage shared expenses with your co-parent to make it as easy and stress free as possible. In this article, we will go over how UK co-parents can manage their shared expenses in easy and low conflict ways.

Tip Number One: Use a Mediation or Budgeting App

The first thing that is always recommended for managing any expenses is a budgeting app. I recommend that you go a step further and choose to use a mediation app with a built in expense tracker, such as 2houses. This will enable you to share what expense have been incurred and mark who has paid payments toward it. No actual cash goes through the app, that needs to be done outside the app, but payments can be marked on the expenses sheet to keep track of what the expenses were and what was paid into them.

A mediation app is really valuable because it helps reduce a lot of the tension around the conflict topic of expenses. You can look at what’s covered, what needs to be covered and you can simply add your part (either paying it directly to the expense or paying back your partner) to the expense and not have to discuss it in detail if it causes too many arguments.

Tip Number Two: Define Each Co-Parent’s Share

Once you have an app, sit down with your co-parent and look at the overall expenses. Kids come with a lot of expenses and its important to look at how those expenses are going to be shared. Most recommend that the expenses are shared in a 50/50 manner for every expense to help cut down on arguments if one parent’s expenses  end up being more at the end of the year.

When you are defining those expenses, be sure to be respectful of each other. You may have different ideas of what should be spent on certain things or what kids really need. A phone may not be something an 8 year old needs so if both parents don’t agree on it, the expense would fall solely on the parent who pushed for the phone.

Once you know what the expenses are, and how you are splitting up the share, you can really start to manage it by monitoring payments and expenses through a co-parenting app.

Tip Number Three: Define What is Over and Above Child Maintenance Payments

So, you have your list of expenses such as dance classes or soccer registration or even school field trips. But this isn’t enough. Many people are unsure what child support, also known as child maintenance payments in the UK cover. The answer is simple…the day to day.

What that means is that child maintenance payments, according to UK law, are used to cover the basic needs of the children. This includes food, shelter and clothing. How the payments are calculated rely on your individual financial situations and the level of income you had as a married couple.

It should be noted that basic needs does not cover all expenses. Extra curricular activities are not covered by child maintenance payments and will be over and above those payments. In addition, school uniforms and school trips are not basic needs and will be a shared expense that both parents will need to manage.

By defining what child maintenance payments cover, you and your ex-partner can better navigate managing those extra expenses that come up when raising kids.

Tip Number Four: Communicate and Break Down the Monthly Expenses

Management also relies on communication, which is why this tip is very important. For you and your co-parent to successfully manage expenses, you need to discuss them. This means looking at the monthly expenses and discussing them. If you have things coming up, you can set budgets on the max amount that can be spent. For example, if the kids need a new pair of school shoes, you can set the budget and, using a mediation app, send photos and price comparisons of the shoes that the kids want.

Communicating leads to having input on how your money is being spent and helps prevent any frivolous expenses that the kids really didn’t need.

Tip Number Five: Plan Ahead and Save for Emergencies

The final tip that I recommend when you are managing your shared expenses is to sit down and plan ahead. First, there are a lot of things that parents can plan for and that you know will be coming. For instance, if the kids play soccer in the summer, you know that every spring you will have extra expenses for soccer registration, uniforms, cleats, and so on. The same can be said for school trips, or camps the kids are going to throughout the year.

When you plan ahead, you can discuss with your co-parent what expenses are coming up, if the kids are looking at new extracurricular activities or when there will be expected expenses, such as a new pair of glasses, you can manage those expenses more easily by saving for them.

In addition, I recommend saving extra money if you are able to for those emergencies that can happen. Having those savings can help reduce a lot of anxiety and tension from the co-parenting relationship and from your financial worries.

Managing shared expenses doesn’t have to be difficult, especially if you are using the tools that are available for you, such as a budgeting app. You and your ex-partner can manage your expenses without a lot of conflict or tension and you’ll know that your kids’ needs are met all of the time.