It is no secret that separation and divorce are stressful events, and that stress only increases when there are children involved. Kids add an extra, complicated layer of custody and child support. That extra layer requires negotiations and agreements, examining your schedules, possibly hiring child care assistance, and wrestling with how your family is going to cope with this new arrangement. Sometimes a schedule falls into place on its own and the parents simply follow it based on it being what they’ve “always done.” Other time, parents may reach a verbal agreement on custody, child support, or both because the “split” was amicable and, so far, there have been no issues with exchanges or co-parenting. It’s always great when parents can agree, and it definitely reduces the stress (emotional and financial) that is caused by court proceedings. But what happens when that agreement is never committed to writing? Or, asked another way, why should the agreement be put in writing even if the parents agree and everything is going well?
You’re right when you said that it’s better to be safe and create an agreement with my ex-husband for our child’s custody. I think it makes sense to hire an attorney for this so that we can make everything that we agree on to be legal. This way, we can hold each other accountable if one of us fails to provide for our child.