Child Custody Letter Template

How to Write a Child Custody Letter?

Follow these steps to draft a Child Custody Agreement Letter:

1. Make sure you remain polite - even if you have unresolved issues with the other parent who is often your former partner, you must be civil when writing a letter that may be used against you in court at a custody hearing.
2. Greet the letter recipient, write down your name, and inform them about your decision to talk through all the details of child custody.
3. The contents of the letter depend on your wishes and preferences but at a minimum, you need to outline your views on holiday visitation, emergency orders, notifications of relocation and travel, and communication via phones and Internet between the child and the parent who does not have primary custody.
4. Inform the other parent they have several days or weeks to reach out to you and draft an agreement that will cover everything you have listed in the letter and other details they would like to include . You can also ask them to send you a similar document that either shows their agreement with what you are offering or lets them express a different point of view - these differences will be discussed during the agreement talks, with or without an intermediary. Indicate the name of the individual responsible for delivering the letter, and add the names of the parents - if both of them agree to the conditions in the letter, they can sign this document making it legally binding.
5. If you create a temporary Child Custody Letter to be able to change the terms if any significant events in your child's life are coming, it is necessary to reflect that in writing . You can also establish the parents' agreement to let the child pick and choose various activities for themself after a certain age.
6. In case you want to use this letter to tell third parties like schools, hospitals, and authorities about the co-parenting rules agreed upon by the parents, you can consider a notarized Letter for Child Custody - a notary seal will prove the legitimacy of the details listed in the letter without the need to contact the people named in it.

Still looking for a particular template? Take a look at the related templates and samples below:

• Sample Child Custody Relocation Letter;
• Sample Letter to Judge for Child Custody;
• Child Care Authorization Letter Template.