The divorce is finalized, and parenting time has been established, now what?
#co-parenting, #parentcommunication, #coparenting, #divorceparentcommunication, #familyapp, #familylawapp
What is Co-Parenting?
In simple terms, co-parenting is continuing the care that you provided your children after your separation. That could be maintaining consistent house rules in both homes, keeping communications between each other neutral, and overall cooperation in choices regarding your children’s upbringing. Switching from parenting under the same roof to parenting separately is a challenge for most parents to navigate, which is where online-based and app-based aids come in.
Can You Co-Parent Online?
In the current digital world, there is an app for everything, co-parenting included. The main goals of these apps are to ease co-parenting communications and reduce the chances of litigation. But there are so many choices out there that could fit your and your children’s needs. Here are five apps you can explore for your co-parenting journey.
Our Family Wizard is one of the oldest, being established in 2001 and because of that has been court-ordered in all 50 states. They are both web-based and available as an app in English and Spanish.
They offer:
● Secure messaging with time-stamped data of when it was sent and when it was viewed by the other parent,
● A Feature called Tonemeter which operates as a spell check for the tone of your messages*
● A color coded calendar with preset and customizable parenting time schedules and time swapping,
● Expense requests with the ability to pay in-app,
● A journal with virtual check-ins,
● Customer support by phone and email
● And an info and document bank to share with your other parent.
It also allows you to include your attorney or mediator so they can monitor communications and pull information for any litigation or mediation needs. This is a paid subscription at a minimal cost. They also offer fee waivers and military discounts.
2. We Parent
We Parent was founded by a psychologist hoping to eliminate conflict during the co-parenting process. This app is phone-based only.
They provide:
● Color-coded calendars,
● Secure messaging,
● Document and photo storage,
● Contact lists and Notes,
● And to-do lists
This app also allows you to connect to your mediator or attorney.
3. 2houses
2Houses is both on the web as well as a phone app. They focus on custody schedules and expense organization heavily while still providing some of the features mentioned in the first two apps.
They offer:
● Color-coded calendars with preset custody calendar as well as customization,
● Expense logs with options of paying in-app
● Messaging,
● Info-bank
● And journal
Your mediator or attorney will have view-only access to your account.
4. Appclose
Appclose was founded in 2016 and is another phone app-only tool.
They offer:
● Multiple calendars with the ability to swap requests
● Expense requests
● Report downloading
● Email support within 24 hours
As a common thread, you can add your legal professionals too. With this app, the subscription is free to use.
Talking Parents was founded in 2011 and has web-based and app-based* access.
They offer:
● Phone and video calls with transcription
● Time-stamped messaging
● Color-coded calendars with custody schedules
● Private messaging
● Document storage
● Record ordering**
This app is free for basic coverage on the website, but to have access to the *phone app or order reports** there's typically a minimal fee.
Conclusion:
There are several more apps that you could choose that weren’t listed here, but the best app for you may be different than someone else. Most of the options listed have either 14-day trials or 30day money-back guarantees if you want to get the paid options a try. At the end of the day choose what's best for your co-parenting situation and children.
If communications between you and your co-parent are still breaking down, then it is probably time to speak with TriDialogue Mediation to help at 772-226-7112.
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