Instead of a judge deciding your child's future, you and your spouse can decided to get a settlement agreement. A settlement agreement, for couples with children, is a legal document which spells out the details of how matters surrounding your child will be handled. This can save you a lot of financial and emotional costs. A settlement agreement provides clear guidelines to be followed, which also gives your child the added security of knowing what to expect. Any agreement involving children needs to be in the best interest of the child/ren at all times.
Health Insurance
Make sure to inform your lawyer which parent is going to cover health insurance and how any bills from medical problems will be handled. This would include how medical costs not covered by insurance are going to be covered. Another question to be considered is who will pay for this continued health coverage, or will you opt to split the costs?
Dental & Eye Insurance
These two types of insurance are not usually covered by general health insurance. Adding this to a settlement agreement now will save you backtracking and additional legal paperwork, not to mention additional medical cost of being uninsured and legal costs of going to court.
Cost of Living
The cost of living is a major consideration if you have children. Costs under this category can include anything from daycare to piano lessons. Don't forget to include school activities and the expense of gas for transporting your child to different activities.
Parenting Time
Some questions to consider for your settlement agreement are:
- Who will your children live with? Will there be a primary parent that the children stay with?
- Who will your children spend the summer, vacations and holidays with?
- Is there a schedule you want to create to split parenting time between you and your spouse?
- How will children be exchanged between you and your spouse? Will you use a third party?
- How will you communicate to make arrangements for the children and any other issues related to them?
- How will you handle situations when one of you cannot meet the schedule? Will you request prior notice?
College Costs
You might think your children are too young to think about this now, but getting this in writing now will save the headache of going to court later. Broaden your agreement to include items outside of "immediate school costs". This could mean anything from late night pizzas to a semester abroad in Italy. Be as specific as you can about what is expected from each parent.
Your child's security is a priority with Attorney James Cairns. To get your marital settlement agreement started today call 888.863.9115 or click on SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT to learn more.
