Which Apps can Make My Divorce Easier?

Are you planning to file for divorce? Do you have minor children from your marriage? If so, it is important to know that you will need to find ways to communicate with your ex-spouse for the sake of your children and sharing parental responsibilities. For many families in Cook County, communication can be difficult, especially when the divorce was contentious. Even when the parties have a relatively amicable relationship under the circumstances, communication can become strained. According to an article in USA Today, technology—and smartphone apps more specifically—might be able to ease the stress of communication between exes.

We want to discuss some apps that can make co-parenting easier by making communication between the parties easier. The apps have a wide range in terms of what they can do, as well as how much they cost.

Our Family Wizard

This app provides parents with a number of modes of communication and information-sharing when it comes to keeping track of parenting time schedules and cost-sharing. You can use the app to create an interactive calendar that both parents can amend, and you can also track child care expenses and other costs that the parents share. The app allows parents to upload receipts and to make payments. Alongside information about medical care and other costs, parents can upload data about the child’s medical history and other important information that they may need to access. Finally, the app provides a secure message board through which parents can send one another direct messages about the information contained in the app.

The app costs $99 per year per parent. If you want to add the “ToneMeter” portion of the app to your account—which warns about potentially harmful tone in language you type up to send to the other parent—the cost is an additional $10 each year.

coParenter

The app coParenter allows parents to keep track of their children and the other parent’s time-sharing schedule. It can send alerts to parents when one of the parents picks up a child or drops off a child. In addition, it allows parents to request time-sharing schedule swaps or amendments.

One unique quality of this app is that both parents do not need to use it in order to take advantage of some of its features. As the article explains, “a SoloMode option lets one parent take advantage of the available tools when the other has no interest in participating.” Accordingly, messages that one parent sends through the coParenter app can simply be sent to the other parent as a standard text message.

SupportPay

This is an app that is designed specifically for making monetary payments—including child support and other payments for child care, health expenses, and educational expenses. There are various versions of the app, including a free one (with a payment limit), as well as an option for unlimited payments. 

TalkingParents 

As the name of this app suggests, it is designed for parents to “talk” with one another electronically. It also timestamps all communications—including when parents send communications and when the other parent reads them. If necessary, the information contained in the app can be used in court. 

Contact a Chicago Child Custody Lawyer

Do you have questions about parental responsibilities? One of the experienced Chicago child custody lawyers at our firm can discuss parenting plans and other aspects of co-parenting with you today. Contact Arami Law, Inc. to learn more about how our family law attorneys can help.