When you and your spouse share legal custody of your child, you may need to work together to solve certain practical issues. Will your child live in your home, or your ex’s home? Will you share physical custody, or will one of you act as your child’s primary caretaker? What will your schedule look like?
In addition to big decisions about your custody arrangement or visitation schedule, you may also need to collaborate on a variety of details about your child’s day-to-day life. Under Nebraska law, parenting plans may encourage parents to make major decisions collaboratively. What decisions might you need to make together when sharing custody?
What kind of education will your child receive?
You want your child to have the best possible education, and determining which school they attend—whether that is a public school, private school or charter school—can be an important decision. You and your ex will likely need to collaborate on these decisions.
Depending on your child’s age and interests, you may also need to work with your ex to make decisions about extracurricular activities. This is especially true if you share physical custody and will share the responsibility of taking your child to practices, rehearsals or other events.
What will your child’s health care look like?
As your child grows you may need to make decisions about their medical and dental care. Which doctor or dentist will they see? What medications will they take? Will they get braces or have their wisdom teeth removed? These decisions can have a significant impact on a child’s life, and may need to be made jointly between parents.
What will your child’s religious upbringing look like?
If religion is an important part of your ex’s life or your own, you may want to share that faith with your child. However, your child’s religious upbringing could be a contentious decision, especially if you and your ex have very different faith lives.
By working together with your child’s other parent where appropriate, you can create a plan that supports your child’s interests and your rights as a parent.
