Mediation
Parenting plan
after your divorce.
Parenting plan: clear agreements for your children
Are you getting divorced or ending your relationship, and do you have minor children together? Then it is important to make good agreements about the care and upbringing of your children. In many cases you are legally required to draw up a parenting plan. But more importantly: a good parenting plan provides clarity and peace of mind for both parents and children.
In a period when a lot is changing, children need stability. By recording agreements, you avoid misunderstandings and everyone knows where they stand. A notary/mediator can guide you in making agreements that are workable for both parents and in the best interests of your children.
What does a parenting plan contain?
A parenting plan contains agreements on the care and upbringing of your children. Think of:
- where the children live;
- what the care and contact arrangement looks like;
- how holidays and public holidays are divided;
- agreements on school, sports and medical care;
- how you inform each other about important matters concerning the children;
- the division of the costs of care and upbringing (child maintenance).
Every family situation is different. That is why tailor-made solutions are important.
Why mediation?
Emotions often play a major role when drawing up a parenting plan. Yet you remain parents together, even after a divorce. Mediation helps you to make agreements in a respectful way that both parents can support.
A notary/mediator is independent and guides the conversation between both parents. In doing so, attention is paid not only to legal and financial matters, but also to the practical consequences for your children and yourself.
By reaching agreements together, you increase the chance that these agreements will continue to work well in the future.
Legal recording
When you get divorced, the parenting plan often becomes part of the divorce settlement agreement and can be submitted to the court. Even if you are not married, it is wise to record agreements in writing.
Peace of mind for the future
A good parenting plan helps to prevent conflicts and gives children the clarity they need. We are happy to guide you in making clear, balanced agreements that fit your family situation and future.
What can we do for you?
Frequently asked questions
Seeking solutions together is a better basis for the future than each party trying to get the most out of it with their own adviser. Especially when there are children, people remain connected to each other for life through these children. And then it is pleasant if their parents can still get along reasonably well...
Whether you live together or are married, the problems and emotions are the same when you separate. There is often disappointment and incomprehension, especially if one of the partners has a new love interest. And in that situation a number of important agreements have to be made.
For example, you must agree with each other on who will continue to live in the house, how the care of the children will be divided, how the costs of the house and of the care of the children will be divided, the division of the car and belongings, payment of the children's costs, and much more.
Although it is quite possible to arrange everything by mutual consultation, in many cases it is important to obtain further advice on the legal consequences. In many cases, notarial or private deeds will have to be drawn up to actually settle matters.
Many people cannot or do not want to make all of the above decisions alone and call in the help of an expert.
Because the notary has to be involved anyway for the division of the house and/or the division of the shares in the BV, a notary-mediator (Mfn or VMN) specialised in divorces is often chosen. This notary-mediator is absolutely impartial and is not only specialised in divorce law, maintenance and pensions, but has also learned to deal with the often intense emotions involved in a divorce. The notary-mediator can also draw up a parenting plan and, in that case, give attention to the problems that may arise for the children.
An advantage is that any amendment of the wills can be arranged immediately if desired.
In the first meeting with the mediator, attention is paid to your personal situation and the background of the divorce. An inventory is also made of the matters on which agreements need to be made. And if there are things that urgently need to be arranged (for example housing, contribution to costs), work on these can start straight away.
Once agreements have been made on all topics (housing, spousal maintenance, division of assets, care and child maintenance, and pension), they are set out in a settlement agreement. The notary-mediator will draw up a notarial deed of this. The advantage is that the deed is binding evidence. In addition, with a notarial deed the financial agreements can be enforced directly by a bailiff, without the involvement of a judge or lawyer, in case these agreements are not complied with.
