Having trouble communicating with your ex about child custody? 

Co-parenting during a separation or after a divorce can be difficult and stressful.  To ease communication, consider using online co-parenting programs such as Our Family Wizard.

Our Family Wizard is web-based program that provides numerous features to help parents co-parent and communicate.  Features include:

• Calendar –A place to keep track of events and appointments, trade days, and keep a record of the children’s custody.  Events that both parents need to be aware of such as doctor’s appointments, t-ball games, or parent/teacher conferences can be added to the calendar without texting or e-mailing personal accounts.
• Journal – The journal option can be shared or unshared.  If shared, the parents can use it as a place to document information the other parent should know about such as updates on a medical condition.  If unshared, you can use it as a place to keep a private record of an event such as a custody exchange.  Either way, it’s a great place to keep a detailed, dated report of events.
• Expense Log – Make online payments from your checking or savings account and track shared expenses with detail.  Using the expense log to make payments will provide documentation of child support payments, health expenses, or reimbursements paid to the other parent.
• Message Board – The message board is easy to manage and provides a secure place to communicate information about the children with the other parent.
• Information Bank – The information bank is a place where both parents can input information such as medical or school information.
• Notification Alerts – You can customize Our Family Wizard to provide notification alerts when the other parent posts to the account by adding or updating information.   As an added convenience, Our Family Wizard even has an app for your smart phone allowing you to access your children’s information wherever you may be.

From a legal standpoint, programs like Our Family Wizard can be an invaluable resource for documenting events as they occur.  Since all entries are date and time-stamped, this forum allows the Court to eliminate the “he said, she said.”  With the detailed information from the website, there is no debate as to what, when or how the parents communicated.

Another benefit to using an online co-parenting program is that parents tend to be more civil in their communications.  Just knowing that your ex’s attorney or even the Judge may read your communications is a great incentive to communicate clearly, concisely, and civilly.

While co-parenting during a separation or after a divorce is challenging under even the best of circumstances, web-based programs can be a great a solution to help simplify a complicated family situation.

If you have questions about a child custody or support issue, we’re here to help.  Schedule a confidential consultation with an experienced family law attorney.