Planning to Co-Parent During an Unexpected Pregnancy

 Posted on November 07, 2024 in Family Law

When you find out that you are expecting a child with someone you are not in a committed relationship with, you might experience a lot of strong feelings. You may be anxious, overwhelmed, and excited all at the same time. If you intend to have a co-parenting relationship with your child’s other parent, it is best to start preparing as soon as possible. While you cannot formalize a child custody plan until your child is born and his or her needs are known, making a tentative plan now can help you focus on bonding with your baby once he or she is born. An experienced Northville, MI child custody attorney can help you begin talks with your co-parent immediately.

Consider Your Relationship First 

It makes sense to take stock of your relationship before you begin talking about legal custody arrangements. If you are currently in a romantic relationship, do you plan to stay together to raise your baby? If so, will you get legally married? While being legally married can offer some security and added benefits, like automatic paternity, it should not be rushed into. If you decide to marry, you should strongly consider a prenuptial agreement.

If you do not expect to stay together or are not currently in a relationship, you should instead focus on forming a constructive co-parenting relationship. Practice good communication skills with each other now. If there is a lot of conflict between you, now is the time to come to a resolution. You will not want the added stress of a legal battle fought partially to spite each other when you are caring for a newborn.

Plan for the Realities of Infant Care 

Taking care of a newborn alone can be extremely trying. You will both need to strategize in order to make sure you have the support you need when it is your turn to spend time with your baby. Some parents find that it is best to live in the same house but have separate bedrooms when their baby is small so that they can work as a team around the clock. Others choose to live with family to have constant support during the infant phase.

Keep Your Child Custody Plans Flexible 

There is a saying - "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." Especially if this is a first child for one or both of you, a parenting schedule that sounds perfect before your baby is here might quickly prove unworkable in practice. One of the advantages of establishing a child custody plan by agreement is that you can change your plan by mutual consent easily if you find that it is not working as well as you had expected.

That said, you should formalize a child custody plan as soon as possible. Not having an official plan in place can become problematic very quickly if one parent becomes reluctant to share time with the baby.

Contact an Experienced Northville, MI Child Custody Lawyer 

Elkouri Heath, PLC will work with you and your expectant co-parent to prepare for the smoothest transition to co-parenting possible. Our dedicated Oakland County, MI child custody attorneys have been serving local families of all types for over 20 combined years. Contact us at 248-344-9700 for a complimentary consultation.