Standard time refers to the courts definition of minimum standard parenting time. It is the least amount of time you can spend with the kids. State or the court tries to do a 50-50 split and usually start off with alternate weekend arrangements. The reality is circumstances will eventually determine a more relevant parenting schedule.
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Standard parenting time. What does it really mean for you? What does it mean to your ex? What will make you comfortable or uncomfortable with parenting time is probably going to make your ex just as comfortable or uncomfortable. You probably want the same amount and quality of time as the other parent. Find out the truth about parenting time in Michigan.
This Is The Monumental Reasons For Parenting Time
A study on parenting in early childhood published in the National Library of Medicine indicated the impact of parenting to early childhood development.
Infancy and the early years of life, the establishment of flexible biobehavioral responses to stress is dependent on the availability of loving attachments. Interventions that improve these interactions have the potential to offer long-term benefits in terms of social and emotional development, particularly for children who are at risk owing to poverty and toxic stress.
Infants and young children depend on their caretakers for their survival, and healthy development demands both physical and emotional needs be satisfied. Positive parent-child relationships help children develop emotionally and cognitively and give them the self-assurance they need to explore the world. While children with insecure attachments are more likely to face developmental issues and psychopathology, those with safe attachments are frequently well-adjusted.
For fathers who oftentimes underestimate their role in their children’s development, take heed.
According to recent research by academics at Michigan State University, fathers are unexpectedly influential in their children’s development, from language and cognitive growth in infancy through social skills in fifth grade.
The study supports the premise that early childhood programs like Head Start should focus on the entire family, including mother and father equally, and offers some of the most solid evidence to date of the importance of dads to children’s outcomes. Claire Vallotton, an associate professor and the project’s principal investigator, affirms this.
Two academic journals, Infant and Child Development and Early Childhood Research Quarterly, both publish the findings online.
The assumption moms are the ones who have an impact on their children’s development and dads merely set the tone for the home is one that emerged from earlier study on fathers and children. However, this study’s findings demonstrate dads do in fact have a direct impact on children, both immediately and over time.
Even when the mothers’ contributions were taken into consideration, the study indicated fathers’ parenting-related stress negatively impacted their children’s cognitive and language development between the ages of 2 and 3. Fathers’ influence, for instance, had a greater impact on boys’ language than on girls’ language, and this effect varied by gender.
Another important conclusion was toddler behavior issues were significantly influenced by both parents’ mental health and that of the fathers. Furthermore, disparities in children’s social abilities, such as self-control and collaboration, by the time they reached fifth grade were caused by fathers’ mental health.
In actuality, fathers’ feelings of sadness during the toddler years had a greater impact on children’s later social abilities than did mothers’ symptoms.
The Fundamentals Of Parenting Time You Need To Know
In Michigan, the time a child spends with each parent when they don’t live together is referred to as parenting time. We never get to mention parenting time without mentioning child custody. We include this in our conversations almost interchangeably.
Doesn’t having custody actually also means spending time with kids? So, what distinguishes parenting time from custody?
Both the residence of a child and the power to make choices on behalf of a child are referred to as custody. If a parent has legal custody, the parent must decide important matters for the child, like their medical care and where they will go to school. A kid has a residence with each parent, and each parent has physical custody when the child is there, unless the court decrees otherwise. Physical custody might refer to the child’s principal house. One parent may be granted exclusive legal and physical custody, both parents may have joint legal and physical custody, or the court may combine the two types of custody.
Parenting time is how a child spends time with each parent, as opposed to custody. It may include a daily schedule as well as chances for the youngster to speak to or communicate digitally with a parent on other occasions. A parent can nonetheless share legal or physical custody of a kid even if they spend less time with the child than the other parent. Similar to this, some parents may have exactly equal parenting time with their children, but if they are unable to work together to make decisions for the child, the court may rule one parent as the child’s sole legal guardian.
In Michigan, a child has the right to parenting time with each parent unless a judge finds the kid’s bodily, mental, or emotional well-being would be jeopardized. According to Michigan law, it is typically in a kid’s best interests to have parenting time that is frequent, long, and of a nature fostering a positive bond between a child and parent.
Parenting time schedules have been recommended by the Court as a model or guideline parents may want to take into consideration when creating a parenting time schedule. In suitable situations, including those where the parents are unable to reach an agreement on a timetable, the court may impose a parenting time schedule.
Only when a parenting time directive is mentioned and included in a court order can it be put into effect. If the phrase “appropriate parenting time” appears in your court order, it refers to any parenting time the parents may agree upon.
The Friend of the Court or FOC will not be able to enforce parenting time if there is a parenting time dispute and your order contains language about “reasonable parenting time” since it lacks a set plan. The parties can make a formal agreement, have it evaluated by the court, and have it filed as an order, or a parent can petition the court if they both want a certain timetable.
As contrast to having parenting time allocated for specific days and times, “reasonable parenting time” is when parents arrange parenting time as they go without a predetermined schedule. If there is a dispute regarding reasonable parenting time, you must submit a request to the judge asking him or her to decide the issue.
If you are granted particular parenting time, a schedule is in place. You might be able to come to an agreement on a parenting time schedule if you feel comfortable speaking with the other parent of your child. If the two of you are unable to come to an agreement, the court may instead establish a schedule.
The thing to remember is not to deny the other parent the court ordered parenting time, you can read our article, “How Can I Deny Parenting Time In Michigan?” to get a glimpse of what happens when one parent denies the other parenting time or visitation.
The Truth About Standard Parenting Time in Michigan
According to Michigan law, a child’s strong relationship with both parents is presumptively in their best interests, and the Court must assign parenting time in a way logically intended to foster this relationship. The court will typically accept the parenting time schedule if the parties can come to an agreement on its details.
It may be challenging to come to an agreement considering there are a lot of considerations to keep in mind even before getting to the stage of deciding a schedule.
The Child’s Stage of Development
You need to consider the stage of development your child is at, and you can have several children in different stages of their development. The range of development stages is from infant to highs school, as follows:
- Infants (Birth to 12 months)
- Toddlers (12 months to 3 years)
- Young children (3 to 5 years)
- Elementary school (5 to 10 years)
- Middle school (10 to 14 years)
- High school (14 to 18 years)
And learning the elements of each of these stages is like attending a course on child development. In each of these stages or levels are more considerations such as development and emotional concerns, communication, parenting time scheduling considerations, and schedule components (in the schedule components safety concerns are also considered).
If you’re looking for a recommended parenting time schedule, you will probably be looking at a schedule as many as the counties handling divorce and child custody cases. Each county actually publishes their own parenting time guidelines. Michigan has a set of parenting guidelines published by the state.
Michigan Parenting Time Guideline published by the State Court Administrative Office of Michigan published in February 2021 and updated last March 2022, provided 14 examples of the parenting time schedules to illustrate how parenting time should be set by parents. These are guides or samples. The parenting time for each family may be as unique as the development needs of the child.
The physical and mental changes occurring in a child from birth till adulthood are referred to as child development. Schedules for parenting time might have an impact on a child’s normal growth. The developmental phases described here are typical for many kids and are generalized. Since each child is different, these patterns could not exactly apply to all of them.
The truth about standard parenting time?
There is really no standard parenting time. What we have are just guidelines. A framework we can use to create a plan for parenting time.
You should not only be thinking about parenting schedules. There’s more to consider and the more of it you integrate into your schedules, the less it will resemble anything standard.
Medical Care Expenses
You have to think about sharing the cost of child medical care. Medical expenses for the child during parenting time may occasionally be paid for out of pocket by the parents. If parents are unable to arrange for uninsured healthcare bill reimbursement on their own, there is a FOC method to assist parents.
Setting up Parental Leave to Address Special Needs
The doctor or doctors of a child with special needs should be consulted by the parent for assistance on how to best manage the child’s parenting time. Routine can be crucial for many kids who have serious medical demands or other special needs. The least disruptive parenting time schedule should be created by the parents for the child.
Consider Extracurricular Activities
Children can benefit from extracurricular activities in terms of their physical, emotional, psychological, academic, and social development. Sports, clubs, community and religious organizations, and volunteering are just a few examples of these activities. The general health, emotional control, study skills, self-esteem, and respect for social values, customs, and individual uniqueness of children are frequently improved by these activities.
Each parent is responsible for gathering information about the events and activities that take place in their child’s life, such as sporting competitions, concerts, award ceremonies, plays, and school programs. Report cards, school calendars, school photos, and copies of awards or ceremonies must all be obtained by parents. Parents should cooperate and share information if one of them is unable to access these items despite reasonable efforts.
The parenting time guidelines spend a lot of time outlining how parents’ optimal parenting time plans are impacted by children’s shifting developmental demands. The greatest parenting time plans take these modifications into account and provide parents the flexibility to adjust as their children’s needs evolve.
The Secret To The Most Promising Parenting Time
There is really no standard parenting time. The most you get is a guideline. First agree to use a guideline and a sample schedule to work on together. Choosing an approach or framework promises the most optimal compromise for both you and your ex.
Both of you should agree that both your lawyers are in on it. You need to agree on this just in case you need to put anything in writing later on. Surprises in these cases don’t turn out very well. Set a course of action and stick to it. This keeps the court out of your schedule.
Communicate, communicate, and communicate more for the sake of your child.
Communicate with your ex candidly.
For a young child to emotionally mature and build a good relationship with both parents, there must be open communication between the parents. Parents should communicate with each other with the needs of the child in mind rather than their own feelings toward one another. Parents must be careful not to let their personal and emotional animosity toward the other parent sabotage their co-parenting arrangement.
Talk about co-parenting and learn from each other.
The majority of families find it important and advantageous for the child when the parents share information. Parents should communicate routines, dietary preferences, medical orders, and any behavioral changes with one another. Regardless of how they parent, parents should have a foundational set of co-parenting abilities. For assistance in building wholesome surroundings for their children, parents may choose to look into parenting workshops, co-parenting counseling, or parenting programs in their neighborhood. Local FOC offices might be able to give you details on free or inexpensive web-based co-parent communication options.
Have That Special Talk With Kids.
Parents should work to establish positive lines of contact with their children. The youngster may be asked about their friends, sports, health, and extracurricular activities at school. In order for the youngster to feel safe contacting either parent with any concerns, parents should maintain open lines of communication with their children.
Parents should, if appropriate, encourage their children’s open communication with the other parent through phone conversations and/or video chats. If it is appropriate, both parents should support the child’s relationship with the other parent and refrain from disparaging that parent, their family, or their spouse.
The best parenting is really the one mutually agreed upon by both parents. If it provides optimal time for each parent then it has achieved the child’s developmental needs.
In the end, it’s essential to strive to set a positive example for your child and impart useful life skills to them. Making your child feel accepted and loved can be accomplished by devoting even a brief amount of time each day to what matters to them. For kids to feel powerful and self-assured in their environment, this connection is crucial.
For parents under supervised parenting time, you may want to read our article, “How To Go From Supervised Visitation To Unsupervised Visitation In Michigan” to see the challenges of supervised visitation and how to move out of it.
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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.