Creating a parenting plan to help you govern how you and the other parent will raise your children after the divorce is a critical step.
Because your children deserve a stable environment to grow up in with both parents involved, your parenting plan is incredibly important to them.
The family court is interested in promoting plans that provide for the children's needs.
When you create your basic parenting plan, always be as detailed as possible.
Get input from your attorney on what should and should not be included in the document.
You can also use custody software to provide you with templates that can be customized to fit particular family needs.
Your parenting plan should take care of both short- and long-term issues surrounding raising your children, long after your divorce is final.
Avoid frequent return visits to court for mediation and revisions by avoiding certain common mistakes and pitfalls that many parents make when creating this important document.
Here are some of the most common mistakes made in parenting plans:

1. Forgetting to include specific language about medical and educational records access.
   Whether you are the custodial parent or non-custodial parent, there can be real hassles in gaining access to your children's vital information unless you clarify that.
   Include strong wording in the plan to enforce each parent's right of access or restriction to those records.
   
2. Creating a vaguely worded schedule that doesn't detail drop-off and pick-up times.
   Avoid general wording in favor of language that specifies visitation days, times, alternate plans and what happens in emergencies.
   Include details on vacations, school breaks and holidays as well.
   
3. Never thinking about your child's long-term needs as they head into pre-teen and teen years.
   Most parents with small children construct agreements that deal with the immediate years ahead, but you must also make plans for pre-teen and juvenile issues that may arise, such as eye care, orthodontics, surgery, therapy and more.
   Even creating a college savings plan for your children should be part of your negotiations.
   Figure out how you'll deal with the costs now to avoid conflict in the future.
   
4. Avoiding a section that deals with restrictions and permissions regarding residential moves by either parent.
   A well-written section can remove any doubts on what should and should not happen if one parent decides moves away.
   Even if you cannot imagine a scenario where you or the other parent would have to move, life events such as job transfers, remarriage or continuing education can create situations where moving is necessary.
   
5. Ignoring what might happen to one or both parents due to unemployment or disability.
   Of course, people don't plan to have either of these events happen, it's a good idea to hammer out the details of should such a scenario happen.
   List what steps you both would take to adjust to such a development, such as suspension of child support, insurance and changes to the visitation schedule.
   

Chances are you'll have to revise your basic parenting plan several times during your children's growing-up years, because situations arise that you could never anticipate.
You also can't predict what things will work for your family and what won't until you implement them.
With careful observation, detailed record-keeping and a goal of providing your children with the best possible environments with both parents, your parenting plan stands the greatest chance of success.