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Building a Parenting Agreement That Works
Building a Parenting Agreement That Works: How to Put Your Kids First When Your Marriage Doesn't Last

List Price: $24.99
Our Price: 14.99

Did You Know?

GRANDPARENTS have long been the backbone to any family. In times of trouble, they are the first place struggling parents turn. However, when the struggles turn into a bitter divorce battle, it is the grandparents who are punished. Unfortunately, it is the children who ultimately suffer...

...You have the right and the obligation to stand up for yourself and for your grandchildren, see grandparents' custody!

Did You Know?

UNPAID CHILD SUPPORT now totals more than $90 billion in the United States.

Learn what resources are at your disposal and how to use the system to your advantage. Collecting what you are owed is your right and gives your children the benefits they deserve, see child support!

Did You Know?

The estimated amount of UNPAID CHILD SUPPORT in America runs into the billions of dollars. Even highly conservative sources say that at least 10 percent of non-custodial spouses don’t pay their child support, yet the vast majority of spouses who don’t pay their child support are not broke: they just claim to be, see child support!

QuickClick Toolbar - Custody


Building a Parenting Agreement That Works: How to Put Your Kids First When Your Marriage Doesn't Last

List Price: $24.99
Our Price: $14.99

Edition: 6th
Pages: 352 pp.
Pub. Date: Oct 2007

Ships within one business day from the west coast

Table of Contents

List of Forms

The updated 6th edition includes checklists and worksheets to help you complete the included fill-in-the-blank custody agreement. It also provides the current custody laws of your state.

List of Forms

  • Worksheet 1: Describe Your Child
  • Worksheet 2: Describe Your Relationship With Your Child
  • Worksheet 3: Adding the Details
  • Worksheet 4: Checklist of Issues for Your Parenting Agreement
  • Parenting Agreement


Building a Parenting Agreement That Works: How to Put Your Kids First When Your Marriage Doesn't Last

By Mimi E. Lyster, Nolo Press

Venue:

National - All States

Description:

Avoid custody battles -- save time, money and grief.

Working out a fair and realistic child-custody agreement is one of the most difficult tasks for parents going through a divorce or separation. Building a Parenting Agreement That Works is the only book to show separating or divorcing parents how to overcome obstacles and create win-win custody agreements.

A professional mediator, author Mimi Lyster sets out 40 issues separating parents typically face, and presents all the options to resolving them. The book walks you through all the factors you must consider, including:

  • medical care
  • education
  • religious training
  • living arrangements
  • holidays
  • money issues
  • dealing with changes in an existing agreement

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

  • A. Make Your Own Custody Decisions If Possible
  • B. What If We Need Outside Help?
  • C. Balancing Parenting and Financial Issues
  • D. Why This Book Is Unique
  • E. A Word to Skeptics
  • F. What If You Just Want to Fight?
  • G. Icons Used in This Book

Part I: Getting Started

1. Taking Stock of Your Situation

  • A. You Are Not Alone
  • B. Keep Your Parenting Plan Focused on Your Children
  • C. It Gets Easier Over Time
  • D. Learn How to Negotiate
  • E. If the Other Parent Is Absent
  • F. If There Is Violence or Abuse in the Family

2. An Introduction to Parenting Agreements

  • A. What Parenting Agreements Cover
  • B. Advantages of Parent-Negotiated Agreements
  • C. Goals of a Successful Parenting Agreement
  • D. Parenting Agreements and Custody

3. Getting Organized

  • A. Organize and Review Documents
  • B. Completing the Worksheets
  • C. Sample Worksheets

4. How to Negotiate a Parenting Agreement

  • A. Knowing What You Need and Want
  • B. When Conflict Gets in the Way
  • C. Using Effective Negotiation and Problem-Solving Strategies
  • D. Breaking Through Impasses
  • E. Knowing Where to Get Help and Support

Part II: Your Parenting Agreement

5. Building Your Agreement

  • A. Where to Begin
  • B. Cooperate! Cooperate! Cooperate!
  • C. Get Outside Help
  • D. Keep Your Agreement Current

6. Basic Elements

  • A. Issue 1: Where Our Children Will Live
  • B. Issue 2: Medical, Dental, and Vision Care
  • C. Issue 3: Disparaging Remarks
  • D. Issue 4: Consistency in Raising Children
  • E. Issue 5: Holidays
  • F. Issue 6: Education
  • G. Issue 7: Insurance
  • H. Issue 8: Making Decisions
  • I. Issue 9: Resolving Disputes
  • J. Issue 10: Labeling the Custody Arrangement

7. Finishing Touches

  • A. Issue 11: Exchanging Information
  • B. Issue 12: Child Care
  • C. Issue 13: Special Occasions and Family Events
  • D. Issue 14: Vacations
  • E. Issue 15: Outside Activities
  • F. Issue 16: Transporting the Children
  • G. Issue 17: Improving Transition Times
  • H. Issue 18: Maintaining Contact
  • I. Issue 19: Grandparents, Relatives, and Important Friends
  • J. Issue 20: Psychiatric and Other Mental Health Care
  • K. Issue 21: Religious Training
  • L. Issue 22: Surname
  • M. Issue 23: Treating Each Child as an Individual
  • N. Issue 24: Separating Adult and Parenting Issues
  • O. Issue 25: Making Changes
  • P. Issue 26: Making Substantive Changes to the Agreement
  • Q. Issue 27: Explaining the Agreement to Your Children

8. Serious Issues

  • A. Issue 28: Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Child Neglect
  • B. Issue 29: Alcohol or Drug Abuse
  • C. Issue 30: Undermining the Parent-Child Relationship
  • D. Issue 31: Denying Access to the Children
  • E. Issue 32: If Extended Family Members or Close Friends Are Fueling the Dispute

9. Special Circumstances

  • A. Issue 33: Moving
  • B. Issue 34: When Parenting Styles and Values Differ
  • C. Issue 35: When a Parent Needs to Develop Parenting Skills
  • D. Issue 36: When Parents Have New Partners
  • E. Issue 37: If Our Homes Are Far Apart
  • F. Issue 38: When Nonrelatives Live in the Home
  • G. Issue 39: Reinvolving a Previously Absent Parent
  • H. Issue 40: Driving and Owning a Car, Motorcycle, or Off-Road Vehicle
  • I. Issue 41: International Travel and Passports
  • J. Issue 42: Military Service
  • K. Issue 43: Allowing Underage Marriage

Part III: Beyond Your Parenting Agreement

10. Child Support, Alimony, and Jointly Owned Property

  • A. Understanding Child Support
  • B. Understanding Alimony or Spousal Support
  • C. Negotiating Child and Spousal Support
  • D. Dividing Jointly Owned Property

11. Making Mediation and Arbitration Work for You

  • A. How Mediation Works
  • B. Why Mediation Works
  • C. Proposing Mediation
  • D. Understanding Basic Mediation Techniques
  • E. Why Mediation Works in Very Difficult Cases
  • F. What Mediators Don't Do
  • G. Choosing Between Court-Ordered and Private Mediation
  • H. When the Mediator Makes a Recommendation to the Court
  • I. Custody Evaluations
  • J. Choosing a Mediator
  • K. Preparing for Mediation
  • L. If You Can't Reach an Agreement
  • M. Alternatives to Mediation

12. Dealing With Changes in Your Agreement

  • A. Why Changes Are Necessary-And How to Handle Them
  • B. When You Are the One Initiating Change
  • C. When You Are the One Responding to a Request for Change
  • D. When Tensions Are Running High
  • E. What to Do After You Negotiate the Changes

13. Understanding Your Children's Needs

  • A. Strategies for Your Children at Any Age
  • B. Strategies for Your Children at Different Ages and Developmental Stages
  • C. Strategies for Children With Special Needs

14. Multiracial, Multicultural, and International Families

  • A. Accommodating Differences in Child-Rearing Practices
  • B. Encouraging Children to Celebrate the Traditions of Both Parents
  • C. Sorting Out the Role of Power Within the Family
  • D. Working Within the American Legal System
  • E. Deciding Whether Another Country Has Authority Over Parenting (Custody) Issues

15. Nontraditional Families

  • A. What Are Nontraditional Families?
  • B. The Legal Relationship of a Nontraditional Parent and His or Her Children
  • C. Recognizing the Nontraditional Parent's Role
  • D. Resolving Conflict in a Way That Meets Your Family's Needs
  • E. Creating New Relationships After the Divorce or Separation

16. State and Federal Laws Affecting Child Custody

  • A. Custody and Visitation
  • B. Best Interests of the Child
  • C. Mediation
  • D. Interference With Custody
  • E. Interstate Custody Disputes
  • F. International Custody Disputes
  • G. Custody and the IRS

17. Help Beyond the Book

  • A. Researching Legal Issues
  • B. Researching Nonlegal Issues
  • C. Research on the World Wide Web
  • D. Finding Professionals Who Can Help
  • E. Additional Resources
  • F. Bibliography

Appendix: Tear-Out Forms

  • Worksheet 1: Describe Your Child
  • Worksheet 2: Describe Your Relationship With Your Child
  • Worksheet 3: Adding the Details
  • Worksheet 4: Checklist of Issues for Your Parenting Agreement
  • Parenting Agreement

Index

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TESTIMONIALS

Excellent! Thank you so much for you and your company’s efforts. You have made this as smooth of a process as I could possibly imagine — very appreciated.

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Seattle, WA

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Cathlamet, WA

It is filed! Thanks once again for your help. That was the best $250 I ever spent!

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Spokane, WA

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Your right to Child Custody, Visitation and Support
Your Right to Child Custody, Visitation, & Support

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Do It Yourself Documents carries state-specific items for all 50 states and DC.

Did You Know?

Sixty percent of bankruptcies and seventy-five percent of divorces in California are done without lawyers!

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Did You Know?

COMMUNITY PROPERTY is property and profits received by a husband and wife during the marriage, with the exception of inheritances, specific gifts to one of the spouses, and property and profits clearly traceable to property owned before marriage, all of which is separate property, see divorce kits!

Did You Know?

A PETITION FOR DIVORCE (or "DISSOLUTION") must be filed and decided in court. However, all states have "no-fault divorce" laws that allow couples to split on the basis of irreconcilable differences without going to trial and without the requirement of establishing fault, see divorce kits!