Parenting Plan Forms and Resources
Standard Forms help get things moving and also help to cover all important issues.
NZ Family Court offers a very brief and simple document, perhaps too simple to be of much use, but it has nice pictures?
Oregon Judicial Department offers a range of Parenting Plan documents and also information about how to make the plan enforceable. Every one of their counties uses slightly different forms and procedures. But anyway, at least in Oregon, they are honest enough to realise that there is no point in making an agreement, if you could never enforce it!!!!! (Only a thief would sell you a parenting plan, for a court that wouldn’t enforce it’s own agreements!)
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts USA has a website with good general advice about separation and parenting plans, not so good on enforcement though. They also have a Journal, which is infinitely more relevant, child focussed and realistic about issues around separation and divorce, than NZ Family Law Conferences, which are really only marketing window dressing.
Alaska is worth checking out, for practical ideas and suggestions.
Australian Federal Magistrates Courts have useful template documents too.
Background
How to make arrangements for children during and after separation. How separation affects children.
compliance with parenting orders
Be assured, NZ has a world class familycaught$. Their ability to separate parents from assets and money is second to none in this world. Child focussed? More money$ focussed really. Any direction of the compass that you might look in, almost certainly has a more skillful, cost effective court system than NZ. (Except UK, but my compass refuses to point to UK, it just goes round and round in great circles and red tape..)
If using overseas material from more real courts, remember that it will take more effort to keep things on the rails in NZ.
__________________________________________________________________
Alternatively, if you are impressed by some of these overseas courts, why not make a mutual agreement, to use the jurisdiction of that court, rather than NZ familycaught$? 🙂 Competition lifts quality and cost effectiveness!!!!
MurrayBacon – axe murderer and red tape strangler.
Material about post-separation parenting seldom tells the truth about the serious damage on average caused to children by depriving them of the security and identity of their family unit. The NZ booklet on partenting plans does show lots of colourful pictures of happy children and amounts essentially to a sales brochure encouraging people to separate and to see separation as desirable. It would be more honest to show pictures of children’s and fathers’ coffins, youth justice facilities, young teenage pregnancies, welfare dependency and psychiatric institutions.
The suggested calenders showing time between the parents all involve a primary parent with most time (and certainly enough to qualify for the DPB and/or maximum child tax) and a lesser parent relegated to ‘access’. The advice in the pamphlet for younger children is exactly that. For older children the possibility of approximately equal shared care is mentioned but, unlike the vague reference to research with respect to younger children, there is nothing mentioned about the major advantages of equal shared care in most cases. Acknowledgement and discussion is carefully avoided about the financial motivation behind most mothers’ preferred parenting plans.
Comment by Hans Laven — Sun 22nd April 2012 @ 10:22 am
Dear Hans,
if fathers want to protect the best interests of their children, they must not be deceived by the plain english meaning of the words in our legislation, or by what familycaught$ “judges” say in public.
What goes on day to day in our caughts is lost, when compared to the legislation.
The best interests of the children, seems to be implemented as the best financial interests of the mother, irrespective of her psychiatric status or parenting capability or skills. If status quo cannot be used, to support the mother’s position, then an interim situation may be created, that will then create evidence to support status quo for the mother.
In reality, if the caughts are to be so one sided, then there is really no need or value, to go through such a dishonest charade. The caught clerical staff can identify the mother from the father and advise the parties of the outcome, without wasting time on “hearings”. We should amend the legislation, to match the day to day reality in the familycaught$.
Alternatively, if we want the familycaught$ to protect children from dangerous or incompetent parents, we would need competent judges, who have the knowledge and skills to weigh evidence covering child protection issues and be able to draw conclusions that actually protect children’s interests.
If men want their children to be protected, then it seems that they must learn about child protection issues and be able to press them in front of a disinterested, practically corrupt familycaught$. Then to show that they can follow through with appeals to higher causghts, until the familycaught$ is forced to be competent and workable.
See http://menz.org.nz/2012/overturning-protection-orders-a-way-of-approach/
See http://menz.org.nz/2008/unmanaged-conflicts-of-interest-hazardous/
See http://menz.org.nz/2008/evidence-is-easily-swept-away-by-sympathy/
Such a campaign would be hard work on one’s own. It would be more likely to succeed, if men work together in teamwork and sharing.
Comment by MurrayBacon — Sun 22nd April 2012 @ 10:51 am
Reply to Hans #1
Hans your following comment speaks volume …..’It would be more honest to show pictures of children’s and fathers’ coffins, youth justice facilities, young teenage pregnancies, welfare dependency and psychiatric institutions.’
See two links below, concerning the effect of children been shut out from there Fathers unconditional love ,it could be some use to you, if you decide to proceed further on this delicate subject
http://www.warshak.com/alienation/pluto-dvd-2.html
http://www.thescavenger.net/…/the-fragmented-family-parental-alienation-...
From hearing from my own Daughter and my own Son personal experiences from been alienated from me, there Father for two years…Was very emotional,and after all these years, even now writing this…. I have tears streaming from my eyes…
That awful pain is still with me, on how much there alienation from me,as effected my beloved Daughter and my beloved Son,when they talked to me from there hearts on how they truly felt when I wasn’t in there lives for two years….
My daughter whom is now overseas doing a master degree in a male friendly European country..My daughter intends to write a book on this particular subject, with the aid of my Son… Once she has finished her masters degree…
Kind regards to you Hans…John Dutchie Free at long last….
Comment by John Dutchie — Sun 22nd April 2012 @ 2:53 pm