Handbook for Parents 3
Co-parenting
Parental responsibility agreement outlines the responsibilities of both parents in raising their children and the share of the bonding time with their children. The focus should be on what is in the best interests of the children. In majority of cases, allowing the children to have close, stable and continuous relationships with both parents is in their best interests. The definition of “children’s best interests” will vary in different households, for example, both parents taking up the equal amount of bonding time might seem ideal for some families, but not to the others.
There are a lot of things to look out for when making care arrangement plans for your children, and it might be overwhelming at first. For that reason, we have created a chart below on co-parenting with all the essential items listed on the left, which will help separated/divorced parents divide and conquer, making this process smoother and more comprehensive.
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1) Arrangements on schooling, living and daily caring arrangement |
Remarks |
Living arrangement |
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Caring arrangement on school days |
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Caring arrangement on holidays (non-school days) |
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Caring arrangement during long holidays (e.g. Christmas, Chinese New Year, Easter and summer vacation, etc.) |
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Caring arrangement for special occasions (e.g. birthday, Chinese New Year Eve dinner, etc.) |
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Medical appointment and treatment |
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Caring arrangement in case of emergency (e.g. parents/children are being hospitalised) |
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2) Child contact arrangement |
Remarks
(frequency, time, form, how and where to pick up etc.) |
Contact arrangement with the non-residing parent on a school day |
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Contact arrangement with the non-residing parent on a non-school day |
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Other ways to connect with the non-residing parent besides visitation |
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Contact arrangement with both parents’ relatives |
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Others (e.g. contact arrangement if anyone is late/sick, when unexpected issue pops up or relief arrangement) |
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3) Children’s expenses |
Remarks
(amount, who, how and when to pay etc.) |
Daily expenses (e.g. meals, clothing, transportation, pocket money, etc.) |
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Educational related expenses (e.g. school fee, school textbook fee, tutoring fee) |
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Medical/Dental cost |
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Insurance fee |
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Extracurricular activities, vacations, and other expenses |
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4) Academics arrangement |
Remarks |
School contacts (by mother or father) |
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Daily supervision |
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Study plan |
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Tutoring class |
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Extracurricular activities |
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5) Parenting arrangement |
Remarks |
Parenting discipline |
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Reward and punishment |
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Religion |
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6) Parent’s communication |
Remarks
(types of messages, communication frequency etc.) |
Sharing information (e.g. notice from school, academic report, photo, medical report, etc.) |
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Communication medium and arrangement (e.g. face-to-face, phone call, email, text message, etc.) |
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7) Others (feel free to add other items when you see fit) |
Remarks |
Application for children tax deduction |
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Out-of-town vacation arrangement |
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Solution when not being able to fulfill the agreement occasionally |
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Other arrangement if there is the need to amend the agreement. |
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