It’s hard to imagine a situation in which you’re able to co-parent with success. After all, you’re going through a divorce and you’re not exactly getting along with your spouse.

Even so, you need to remember this: It’s imperative to provide your child with the stability he or she needs to grow.

This is where a parenting agreement comes into play. With this, you have the opportunity to work through the finer details of how to raise your child in the future. While you may not always agree with your ex-spouse, a bit of compromise will allow you to create a parenting agreement that keeps you on the right track.

Here are just a few of the many things to include in a parenting agreement:

• Where the child will live, which is known legally as physical custody
• Which parent or parents will have legal custody of the child
• A visitation schedule for the non-custodial parent
• An outline of where the child will spend holidays, birthdays, vacations and any other major events

These things are important, but there’s one last detail to consider: how to work through disputes and changes in the future.

You hope your parenting agreement helps you avoid disputes. You also hope that your parenting agreement is good enough to stay in place for years on end. However, you should expect disputes and changes to move to the forefront at some point.

For example, as your child ages, he or she may take on a busy schedule. This could impact the visitation schedule of the non-custodial parent, thus calling for a change to the parenting agreement.

You and the other parent have full control when creating a parenting agreement. You may have to compromise on some details, but it’s okay to do so as long as you’re pushing the process forward.

Knowing your legal rights and what you want to accomplish will put you in the best possible position as you negotiate the terms and conditions of a parenting agreement as you go through a divorce.