One of the greatest concerns of divorcing parents is the well-being of their children, especially when it comes to children with special needs. Navigating divorce with a child who has special needs involves several legal and financial considerations, including medical care, specialized education, and long-term support. Creating a comprehensive parenting plan is essential to easing the transition for your family and ensuring stability, happiness, and continued care for your child.
How Courts Decide Custody In Divorces Involving Children With Special Needs
California courts prioritize the best interests of the child, paying special attention to their medical, educational, emotional, and daily practical needs. A judge will consider several factors such as:
- The age and health of the child
- The emotional ties between the parents and the child
- The child’s ties to their school, home, and community
- The ability of each parent to care for the child
- Any history of domestic violence
- Any substance abuse by either parent
Custody Arrangements for Children with Special Needs
There are two types of custody: legal and physical. The courts may award joint legal and physical custody to both parents, sole legal and physical custody to one parent, sole legal custody with joint physical custody, or sole physical custody with joint legal custody.
- Legal custody is the right and responsibility to make important decisions about your child’s life, including their healthcare, education, religious upbringing, and overall welfare.
- Physical custody refers to where your child lives and which parent is responsible for their day-to-day care and supervision.
- Visitation refers to the time your child spends with the non-custodial parent. California has different types of visitation orders: reasonable visitation (open), visitation with a schedule, supervised visitation, or no visitation.
How to Create a Parenting Plan for Your Child’s Long-Term Well‑Being
A parenting plan is an essential document that outlines how parents will fulfill their custody responsibilities. It includes visitation schedules, communication protocols, and logistical arrangements for matters such as healthcare, education, tutoring, extracurriculars, weekends, appointments, holidays, special occasions.
Parents can create a parenting plan together by mutual agreement. If parents cannot reach an agreement, the court will typically order a parenting plan that serves the child’s best interests.
A detailed parenting plan helps to reduce and prevent conflict, ease your family’s emotional transition, and provide the child with a sense of consistency and security. Parents should carefully consider how the child was cared for before the divorce and use that understanding to shape their parenting plan.
To ensure your parenting plan reflects your child’s specific needs, gather detailed documentation and work with a child custody attorney experienced in special needs divorce cases. Medical and psychiatric records, educational evaluations, receipts for childcare and related expenses, and written notes from doctors, therapists, or educators can all be helpful in supporting your requests.
Topics to Consider for Your Parenting Plan
Physical Residency & Accommodations
The home(s) where your child lives must be equipped to meet their physical, emotional, and developmental needs and include the necessities that ensure their comfort. Your parenting plan should establish clear procedures for minimizing stress during transitions between households, including where and how handoffs will occur and how your child’s belongings, medications, or equipment will be transferred.
Daily Routines
Parents should strive to maintain consistent rules in both households regarding their child’s daily routines, including wakeup times, bedtimes, mealtimes, chores, schoolwork, and leisure activities.
Parenting Time
Describe the actual role and responsibilities of the non-custodial parent during visitation. Visitation schedules should accommodate your child’s special needs, consider their sensory or behavioral limits, and minimize disruptions.
Medical Care & Emergencies
Include medication instructions, appointment schedules, and the contact information of doctors, therapists, and care providers.
Detail which parent should be contacted first in case of an emergency, how emergencies should be communicated to the other parent, and the timeframe within which a parent must respond before the other may proceed with the authority to make urgent decisions. Include a list of preferred hospitals, clinics, emergency contacts, and medical personnel.
Education & Extracurriculars
Address transportation for pickups and drop-offs, participation in parent-teacher meetings, accommodations for your child’s needs, and which parent may sign for permission for school field trips, sports, and activities.
Communication
Set expectations regarding communication, including frequency, expected response times, preferred channels or applications, how records will be shared, and protocols for resolving disagreements.
Technology & Electronic Devices
In today’s digital world, it’s important for parents to agree on clear boundaries regarding their child’s access to online applications, including media, messaging platforms, and social media. Your parenting plan should specify which parent—or if both—will monitor online activity, manage access and login credentials, approve digital purchases, and manage screen time.
Transportation & Travel
Outline accommodations for the child’s needs when traveling to daily and weekly commitments, as well as how out-of-town or flight travel will be handled.
Financial Support & Responsibilities
Clarify how expenses that fall beyond monthly child support will be handled. These may include uninsured medical, dental, or vision care, extracurricular activities (e.g., sports equipment, musical instruments), vacation-related expenses, and other unforeseen or extraordinary expenses.
Call Kaspar & Lugay LLP Family Law Attorneys
Kaspar & Lugay LLP understands the complex legal and financial factors behind custody issues, especially for parents of children with special needs. From parenting plans to child support, we work diligently to ensure that the outcome of your divorce is thoughtfully and uniquely tailored to protect the well-being of your child.
To speak with a lawyer, please contact us today.
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