This site has been helpful in more ways than one!
So.. I know we like to all vent on here... but i have found this site to actually be pretty helpful in learning (retroactively).. what should be in a good separation and custody agreement
I got to read OSD's agreement and I was able to comment and I think give some good suggestions.
Like..they had EXTRA Curr. activities to be split 50/50.. I said it should be amended to read "mutually agreed".. will be split.. because otherwise one party can punish the other by signing the kids up for all sorts of expensive crap;.. "Oh.. the boys have taken up polo.. lessons and horse lease will be 2000 a month.. plus another 1000 for league and tournament dues" "The boys are going to be joining the international travel ball team which is 5000 a season plus the cost of international flights and lodging for the 5 games that will be ocurring in Germany, France, Madrid, Tokyo and the UAE."
I also suggested ROFR because her EX has a job where he can be called out.. and if they can't be with him.. they should be with her... not his parents.
They also included disparaging language and no discussing the custody agreement with the kids.. her EX and his family have been telling the 6 yo that "Mommy may not love you but daddy does"...
They are doing basically 50/50 proposed week on.. week off.. I also advised they may want to put something in about what might happen if one or both of them would relocate to where the 5050 won't work.. travel to visitation etc...
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Might consider spelling out
Might consider spelling out holidays and claiming on taxes, too.
YEP.
I was going to add that too! Because we all know how that can go way south.
Yessssss!!!
Yessssss!!!
Anyone here have a non
Anyone here have a non disparaging clause do any good??
Transportation for visitation & holidays & can only move XX miles.
That sounds like a really
That sounds like a really fair agreement!
I agree on making something in writing about if one party relocates more than X miles ____. And holiday's spelled out in Odd/Even numbered years has been super helpful for me. No playing "but you had them last year" and having to prove one way or the other.
College expenses. End date
College expenses. End date in that one. Don't overlook that one. Driving and car.
They do have tax dependent
They do have tax dependent claim and holidays spelled out. I don't think our state requires parents to pay college costs for kids absent..so I don't think they will be putting that in.. my SD did not go to school (or at least never got beyond a few classes).. her DH went for some 2 year program to a college.. but I don't think he got a 4 year degree.. and is not doing anything degree related right now.
The car may be something to think about for the kids.. but at this point.. the settlement appears to favor OSD fairly heavily.. including some spousal support for a few years.. and paying a smaller share of costs (she earns much less).. it might end up a bridge too far to add too many more things to the guy's plate..
I'm actually not sure he will sign it in this current format anyway.. it is a big bite of money for him.
The Big Ask
Ive heard and read that you always want to ask for everything possible, so that you seem "generous" if you "give anything up" that you are asking for. Like "I want EVERYTHING" so when you get majority is a huge concession. Ive been doing that lately and am surprised at how well its been working!
Is DH really ok with this
And just blowing smoke uo your Bu**. DH may want his kids to experience this, ok with paying for it. But understand your point of view and is just blowing smoke
Life Insurance
I wish my DH had put in the extra activities. We had 2 boys for travel baseball, hockey and football. It was very pricey and DBDB never paid a dime, but at the same time, never showed up to support them.
He did not include college. Since there were 2, taxes were done as she claims one, he claims the other until the oldest turned 18 and then they switched years for the youngest until 18. Holidays were every other year.
The one thing he did do was put in there that they each had to have a life insurance policy for each child. He paid for health insurance and she was supposed to pay co-pays, but she always had an excuse and didn't pay at the time of service, so DH got the bills. DH did and when time came for us to go to court for custody of the youngest, she did not. DH sent his financials, along with all receipts for the co-pays that he had to pay, with a copy of the paperwork and she had to scamper to get policies for both the kids since she never bothered to do it. She had to write a big fat check!
Pick up and Drop off day
If they're doing 50/50, I would suggest identifying which day/time of the week.
Example. Exchange will be Friday after school.
Ours just stated "Sunday".
Sunday is a fricking pain in the a$$. Especially if its a long weekend.
Any of the days during the week, after school is the best. Or any weekday evening at 7:00.
Ultimately, picking a specific day of the week and time and place is the way to go. And don't make it on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
I 100% agree
When Dh was working on the custody agreement between him and BM, I read it over and pointed out somethings that were missing or vague and at the time, seemed pretty set in stone, BUT now after reading on here or going through things as time progresses and SD gets older, you realize a bunch of things that are either vague or totally left out.
I would recommend clarification that travel occurs on the
the visitation parent's time.
The SpermCLan tried to return SS the day after visitation ended saying that traveling on their time took away from their visitation. When we spanked them in court on that the Judge clarified that their visitation started when the kid initiated travel and he had to be returned at the same time on the last day of visitation. Not the day after visitation expired. The Judge also made it clear that each party was responsible for travel costs to xsport the kid from the kid's location to the parent's location and the possessing parent was responsible for xporting the kid to the airport per the travel itenerary.
Another clarifcation that the Judge made is that if the parent with visitation refused a visitation they were not eligiable to add the visitaiton they refused to later visitations.
As for ROFR, it seems to be a leverage point for a PITA X to be a bigger PITA. I would not want it or allow it to be an a CO that I was subject to if i could prevent it.
IMHO a CO should limit variables, establish boundaries of Custody/Visitation/Support and not be overly broad or changeable without a level of cost and focused effort by the parent wanting to drive the change.
Limiting disruption of the Kid's life is IMHO the primary goal of a CO followed very closely by limiting the ability of one X to interfere in the life of the other.
This includes preventing a parent, even the CP, from moving the kid away from the other parent once a schedule is COd.
In our case, DW was confirmed to have full physical and legal custody of SS so when she left the People's Republic of SpermLand for university she was within her pervue. There was no visitation schedule established at that time. Once she left for University, she never moved back to SpermLand.
When a visitation schedule was orderd, it was a long distance schedule (5wks summer, 1wk winter, 1wk spring). Which IMHO is part of the reason why our blended family adventure was relatively drama free. The SpermClan did not have more opportunty than that to pollute SS with their manipulative toxic PASing crap.
More exchanges = more drama.
More exchanges = more drama. We did exchanges at daycare, which i continued into before/after care up until middle school to cut the drama. Nobody wants to be an ass in public. Well, almost nobody, but the kids got on and off the bus at daycare so whoever's day it was picked them up there, whether school was in or not. If i didn't need daycare they didn't go, but if it was exchange day, they went even if it was for an hour before. They had 2 sets of everything so no worries about that. They went back and forth with what fit in their booksack.
You said it with far fewer words than I did.
Fewer hand offs = less drama/More hand offs = more drama.
Absolutely!
Please excuse my wordy blather.