Preparing for a Divorce and Have Kids? Don’t Leave These Items Out of Your Agreement!

Preparing for a Divorce and Have Kids? Don’t Leave These Items Out of Your Agreement!

Preparing for a divorce can feel quite daunting, especially when you have kids to consider and their futures to be planned. I recently inquired with a group of divorced parents about what they wished had been part of their divorce agreement having gone through the process and seeing the result in action. Here is what other divorced parents think you should consider including:

• Sharing college Prep Costs
• Having access to medical insurance information and cards when the other parent is the policy holder
• Sharing the costs of diagnosis/treatment of children post-divorce
• Sharing driver’s education costs, licensing costs, car insurance costs, car expenses
• Sharing cell phone costs
• Sharing the cost of computer equipment not provided by their school/college
• Sharing expenses associated with high school Senior year activities/graduation
• Sharing in 529 Plan contribution
• Agreeing to obtain and share in the cost of passports for the children
• Being paid the loss of income resulting from one parent missing their parenting time resulting in the other parent missing work
• Sharing in vision insurance coverage and related costs
• Detailing the communication allowed when there are younger children (i.e. a daily FaceTime)
• Sharing in clothing expenses, to be detailed out (coats, boots, uniforms)
• Special education meeting participation/expectations
• Access to therapy for child(ren) and sharing in related expenses
• Access to academic tutoring and sharing in related expenses
• Sharing summer camp expenses
• Sharing after school activity expenses
• Both parents must reside x number of miles from each other
• Reimbursement for childcare expenses to take within a certain time frame
• Larger expenses be paid directly so one person isn’t fronting all the money (i.e. larger medical bills)
• Agreeing that neither party will introduce a romantic partner until they have been dating for an extended period of time i.e. 6 months or 1 year

The more scenarios you can plan for and have accounted for in your divorce agreement, the easier your post-divorce situation will be, as you won’t be left with undefined expectations. Knowing what to expect as your kids are growing up can you help you plan financially and reduce your stress. Unsure of where to begin? Chat with one of our divorce attorneys to get started.