Parenting Plan Software Technology | Free Worksheets & Templates

Parenting Plan Software Technology Worksheets Templates (1 Free). Listing of software sources and tools to help Tennessee parents needing residential time and parenting time scheduling, planning, and organization.

Using Technology to Stay Organized | Help for Tennessee Parents

Free Tennessee Parenting Plan Software Technology Worksheets Templates

As any parent will admit, raising children is often challenging.  However, when parents are separated or divorced, there are many obstacles to communication which makes parenting even more difficult.  Tension and disagreements tend to make parents want to avoid interacting with one another, and keeping track of parenting time schedules and other details related to their children’s lives can become a dizzying, stressful task for divorced parents.

For the low-tech parents, one way to handle organizing the confusing mess that is a parenting plan this is to buy two calendar organizers from your local office supply store or Walgreens and a pink and blue highlighter.  For an entire year in advance, color in nights with the mother in pink and nights with the father in blue.  If there are no conflicts between the parents’ understandings, make another version for the other parent.

For the high-tech crowd, there are, however, a variety of online tools that can help your family get and stay organized.  Many of these applications provide scheduling calendars, messaging, and tracking of expenses and other information related to the children.

Popular Scheduling Applications | Is there an app for parenting plans?

There are a variety of websites which offer online and downloadable scheduling calendar software along with features divorced parents may find helpful.  So far, we’ve only found only one free parenting plan coordinating software application. We expect more to come and soon.  So, check back.

OurFamilyWizard.com: $99 per year/$179 for two years for each parent with free accounts for children.  The main feature of this site is the parenting schedule calendar which can pre-schedule up to three years in advance.  Scheduling conflicts and schedule change requests are highlighted with exclamation marks.  A great advantage of this program is the scheduling calendar’s color coding feature.  To avoid any confusion, highlight dad’s parenting time in blue, and use pink to indicate mom’s time.  Other handy applications on this site include:

• a message board so parents can communicate with one other in a forum which is confidential from the children.
• an option to be notified by email or text message when new information has been added to the site, for example a scheduling change or health information update.
• an information bank which allows parents to upload information regarding school, health insurance, immunization records and contact numbers.
• an expense log which automatically tracks expenses entered for each child, calculating each parent’s share of the expenses while at the same time allowing the other parent to approve or disapprove of each expense.
• security protections encryption to protect personal data.

ParentingTime.net: $149.95 per year for each parent. This site also provides a scheduling calendar, messaging, pages for important contacts, tasks and filing sharing as well as expense tracking.  However, the best feature is an option which shows several charts that track visitation totals for each parent, such as the number of overnights and days spent with the children.  Great evidence for court hearings on visitation disputes.

CustodyPlanner.com: Free. While it does not offer expense or parenting time tracking, this simple and free online program allows parents to set up a scheduling calendar based on programmed custody rules and exceptions to those rules.  Parenting time schedule as well as special events may be added to the calendar as well as messaging and photo pages.

CustodyXChange.com: $150-$400 for the software depending upon the version with a 30 day free trial. This downloadable software program is simpler to use than OurFamilyWizard.com and JointParents.com, but it does not include messaging, expense tracking, or pages for information such as health insurance, school contacts, etc.  However, the scheduling calendar automatically calculates the percentage of overnights for each parent and allows parents to include common parenting provisions.

SharedGroundonline.com: $14.95 per month for the software with a free trial.  With a user-friendly wizard to guide you through the family database setup, this downloadable program only offers a scheduling calendar.  Each parent and child is given a color-code and parents can enter parenting time, school, vacation and holiday schedules for each child.  The program can show the percentages of time each parent spends with the children, but the best feature is sample parenting plans which parents can use as templates to create their own.

CustodyToolBox.com: $14.95 per month for the software with a 15 day free trial.  This software program is primarily used for the parenting time scheduling calendar, but it also includes pages for an address book, to do list, journal, minimal expense log and mileage log.

Other Helpful Tools for Tennessee Parents Needing Help with Parenting Plans

• Google.com Calendar has a simple function that can be used for parenting time scheduling.
• Meetways.com is a helpful tool if parents want to find a meeting place halfway between two points where they can meet to pick-up or drop-off the children.
• Webcams for virtual visitations work well for parents who travel or live far away from the other parent.  Skype is the most popular.
• Scanners allow parents access to children’s homework, report cards, artwork and other documents.

Online parenting tools can be so effective in assisting divorced parents with their children that some courts order parents to use them.  However, any parent can take advantage of the benefits that these technologies in order to make life a little less hectic.  Share your thoughts on these parenting tools.

References, Resources and More:

• Tennessee Child Custody Laws
• Tennessee Child Custody Laws in Divorce – Answers to FAQs
• Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family
• Top 7 Tennessee Custody Divorce Strategies | How To Win Custody in a Tennessee Divorce
• Child Custody – Tennessee Family Law Blog for updates, analysis, commentary & case law summaries