It can be easy to create a plan in which a parent spends every other week with his or her child. However, this may not necessarily be in the child’s best interest, especially for kids who under 12 years of age. Fortunately, there are many different ways in which mothers and fathers can allocate parenting time after a divorce. For instance, a child could spend weekdays with one parent and the weekend with the other.

The goal is to find a plan that works for the parents while also ensuring that the child’s needs are met. Keeping a child away from a parent for too long could cause separation anxiety or other mental health issues. Being with a child for an entire week at a time may not be practical from a scheduling standpoint.

For instance, a child may need to be dropped off or picked up from school at irregular hours during the week, or a parent may have an irregular work schedule that makes it difficult or impossible to drive the child to school or other events. It is worth noting that parenting plans don’t have to result in a 50/50 split in parenting time. In some cases, an unbalanced approach may be the only way to meet everyone’s needs.

The best interests of the child should be the top priority for any parent after a divorce. That is the standard that a judge will use when deciding whether to approve a custody or visitation plan that a divorced couple has created on their own. An attorney may be able to review an agreement before it is submitted to a judge for his or her approval.