You’ve heard of do-it-yourself divorce, but have you ever thought about handling custody management on your own? There are currently online services that allow you to do just this sort of thing. As with DIY divorce, it will take a commitment from both of you to pull off, but it can also hold off conflicts before they happen.

Usually, this is how it works:

Create An Account. 

Decide what you want your username and password to be. Set your privacy settings and permissions. Have your ex do the same.

Schedule Events. 

Few services place limitations on the types of events that are allowed for scheduling into the system. The most important items are usually child exchanges, holidays, parenting, vacations, phone time, special events, and support payments.

Track Events. 

Once the events occur, you can mark their status to create an online documentation of how well your custody arrangement is working. What this does is create a record of cooperation (or conflict) that can then be used to facilitate a smoother co-parenting experience after you have decided to file for divorce.

Generate Reports. 

This is where a custody management system can really come in handy. This is where it becomes more than just a series of events on your computer and it becomes something that you can show to an attorney or judge. Reports can typically be run for benchmarks such as:

• No. of hours in custody and percentage
• Accumulated expenses (i.e. gas, medical, phone, and travel)
• Forfeited parenting hours
• Grandparent visitation (and other relatives)
• Support payment amounts
• Delinquent payments
• Denied parenting time
• School attendance

One of the most popular sites in this arena is CustodyJunction.com if you’re interested in pursuing this option. By taking a more professional approach to custody arrangements, you and your spouse can hold each other accountable in the best interests of the child. You can also take a lot of the bitterness and emotion out of co-parenting by viewing it as a professional relationship between the two of you, thus neutralizing the negativity.