Out of Court Parenting Agreement

by Anonymous from Florida

Out of Court Parenting Agreement:
Do parents need to see a judge to finalize or legalize a parenting agreement if both parties agree to all terms and it is notarized?

My ex boyfriend and I have a child together and we are going through a separation.

We were never married. We are going through the process of agreeing on custody, time-sharing, etc.

We believe that we can reach agreements on all aspects of a parenting plan so it is fair and equitable to both of us. My question is if we can reach an agreement on all these things and we get the form notarized, do we still need to file the paperwork with the Courts and/or go before a judge to finalize things?

Answer to Florida Court Forms Child Visitation Question

Dear Anonymous,

In a perfect world we would have no need for police officers, courts, or judges. In a perfect world people wouldn't do bad things or have disputes they couldn't reasonably solve together.

However, I completely understand the desire to keep the courts out of your personal life. And many parents have private arrangements regarding childcare that work just fine.

On the other hand, while both you and your ex may be perfectly reasonable right now, one or the other of you could become less reasonable in the future.

Suppose, right now, you agree on an amount of money each spends for the care of your child; but down the road the child's needs change, what then?

What if one of you starts earning much more, or much less than at present?

How will you keep things fair? Not to say it's impossible, but if you disagree, having a formalized agreement -- formalized through the court system -- might make it easier to resolve conflict in the future.

Notice: We provide these answers to the general public and our website visitors as a means to further their online legal research. These answers are merely suggestions and should not be regarded as legal advice.

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