How Will a Court Structure a Parallel Parenting Plan?

In your divorce case, the Tennessee family court has broad discretion to design a parenting plan that best serves your child, including ordering a parallel parenting plan. Here, you and your soon-to-be former spouse may run your households independently with little to no communication or coordination. A judge may make this final ruling if they believe co-parenting is close to impossible, and your constant conflict will cause your child emotional damage. Well, with that being said, please read on to discover how a court might structure a parallel parenting plan and how one of the seasoned Clarksville child custody lawyers at Fendley and Birch can work to ensure it does not affect the quality time spent with your child.

How will a court structure a parallel parenting plan schedule?

Since the Tennessee family court found reason to believe that you and your former spouse typically reach highly escalated conflicts when interacting with one another, they may order a parallel parenting plan in which you communicate exclusively through written channels.

Specifically, they may direct you to logged text messages, secure email platforms, or even a co-parenting app. This recorded communication allows the court to confirm that you follow the rules of your ordered plan, but also shields your child from face-to-face hostility or verbal harassment, and ultimately gives you much-needed boundaries from a toxic relationship.

In addition, a court’s plan may divide the types of decisions each parent can make on behalf of the child. In other words, split up their legal custody rights and responsibilities. For example, you may be in charge of your child’s medical decision, while your spouse handles your child’s education and school communication.

The only excuse for overstepping these parameters is an emergency where the parent usually responsible for this decision cannot be reached in time. Otherwise, a violation of this parallel parenting plan may cause you or your spouse to be held in contempt of court. In a worst-case scenario, the court may feel inclined to modify your already limited custody arrangement.

Will a parallel parenting plan affect my time with my child?

The Tennessee family court may create a strict parallel parenting plan. This is because, since communication between you and your former spouse is supposed to be limited, there is little to no room for you to negotiate and switch parenting days as you go. And so, a judge may designate precise drop-off and pick-up times and select a neutral location for this to take place.

With that being said, while a rigid parallel parenting plan is supposed to reduce any unnecessary interaction and conflict, it should not reduce the amount of time you get to spend with your child. Even if communication is limited when your child is with their other parent, the court should still grant you a fair amount of days to maintain a quality relationship with them.

You should not let the pressure of creating a healthy and manageable parenting plan rest solely on your shoulders. Please allow one of the competent Clarksville family lawyers from Fendley and Birch to assist you throughout this process. We look forward to helping you set up an arrangement. Give us a call today.