In the United States, about 40 to 50% of married couples divorce. This means that many Kentucky parents are co-parenting. While many co-parents deal with difficulties surrounding decisions that need to be made while co-parenting, financial stress can be minimized when the following steps are taken.
The divorce decree usually outlines the responsibilities that each parent has regarding expenses related to raising the children. It will guide the parents since it breaks down specific financial responsibilities like spousal support, health care, extracurricular activities and education. The details should be fine-tuned in court in order to save the divorced couple from many problems.
Maintaining regular communication about finances as co-parents is essential. Keeping the conversations focused on the children and their needs will make these conversations much easier. Parents can set up a time to regularly discuss a budget, perhaps one time per month, and anticipate future additional expenses. Revisiting the divorce decree may be necessary as well as getting the court involved again if circumstances change.
Web and mobile solutions that are especially designed for co-parents or some form of financial software can help keep track of the budget. Some software and mobile solutions allow each parent to upload receipts, deposit money and communicate about expenses without discussing them over the phone or in person. These options create a paper trail that will hold each co-parent responsible for their actions. Each co-parent can regularly check the platform to be sure that things are being paid according to what was outlined in the divorce decree.
While the divorce decree usually lays out the responsibilities of each co-parent, there may be some gray areas. It might be necessary for a co-parent to speak with a divorce lawyer to clear these matters up and to receive legal help regarding property division, spousal support, child custody orders and the other complexities of divorce.