If you have recently gone through a divorce, you’ve experienced a lot. One of the most important things you will have to do before the dust settles is to make some decisions about who gets which of your children’s devices. But deciding who gives them what apps on their device can be nearly impossible. Confused? So was I! That’s why I reached out to several family and divorce attorneys to get their expert opinions on this difficult topic, and here are the results . . .
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Divorced Parents
best free app for divorced parents
As family lawyers, we find that the things that cause a lot of conflict in divorce and separation are parenting arrangements. It is a very emotional time and it’s not like you can move on from your spouse as you have children that need care.
By Courtney Mullen, Head of Family Law at Australian Family Lawyers, Canberra
In our experience, there are some great divorce and co-parenting apps out there to manage your parenting arrangements and help to reduce the conflict. While it is an effective tool in reducing the need for legal intervention, the information the apps store can also help support legal arguments if necessary.
The law requires you to provide evidence in many family law cases and many of these apps will allow lawyers to pull records of events, expenditures and message histories.
We have helped you to find the best co-parenting apps for you and your family by comparing features such as calendars, money tracking, medical history and messaging, as well as costs.
1. 2Houses
2houses co-parenting app
Source: 2houses.com
The focus of 2Houses is also on aligning two parenting styles across two houses. The custody scheduling function in this app is great – it allows for recurring appointments, syncing with other calendars, importing school calendars and vaccination timetables, colour coded events and the ability to ‘swap’ entries by making schedule change requests.
2Houses also have a mini-guide for separated couples on their website to help you engage in co-parenting. A distinguishing feature of 2Houses is that your mediator or collaborative lawyers can have full read-only access to the whole account (with your consent).
Calendar
Expense log
Custody schedules and journal
Message log
Info bank
Photo storage
Read-only access to other professionals
Cost: Free 14 day trial. $159 per year (billed monthly).
2. Our Family Wizard
This app has it all – with the focus being to bring parents together by facilitating optimal communication on all fronts. Extended family, third parties and children can all be part of Our Family Wizard. The app has some very useful features, like opening a trade/swap times function in the custody calendar for managing discussions about flexible parenting arrangements. The Info Bank stores all important information about things like medical history and immunisation records; keeping both parents on the same page about their parental responsibilities.
Calendar
Document management
Expense log
Photo storage
Info Bank
Custody schedules
Message Log
Communication screening*
*The ‘ToneMeter’ is an optional extra that screens your communication in the app, picking up on negative messaging and giving you an alternative that is less likely to start an argument.
Cost: Annual subscriptions start at $99 for one year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. ToneMeter is an additional $10 per year.
3. WeParent
WeParent has many great features to help navigate family life. Originally designed for divorced and separated parents, to support them in their co-parenting journey, WeParent now supports all family types. You can even invite children over the age of 13 to use the app with the family. They also have some helpful and practical tips for separated couples on their blog.
Calendar
Document management
Photo storage
Custody schedules
Message log
Contact sharing
Cost: Free 14 day trial. $9.99 per month, $99.99 per year or $199.99 for a lifetime for your family.
4. Parentship
Parentship
Source: parentship.co
Parentship is flexibly used by all types of families, not just separated couples. There is a handy ‘dashboard’ function that allows users to see a summary of upcoming events, recent messages or other notifications.
Calendar
Expense Log
Message Log
Shared Contacts
Info Bank
Document storage
Cost: Free trial. Free (for up to 108 entries a month), $3.99 month to month or $24.99 per year.
5. Cozi
This is a great app to start with if you’re unsure about making a financial commitment to any co-parenting apps, or if you’re amicable with your former partner and just want something to make it ‘easier’. Cozi is not targeted at separated couples, and is instead marketed as being a ‘simple family organiser’ – creating menu plans and colour coded to-do lists – rather than being a ‘divorce app with the lot’.
Calendar
Shared lists and notes
Cost: Free.
6. FamCal
This app is great for organising the basics! It is designed to be a shared calendar for the family, with the ability to easily plan group activities. FamCal allows everyone in the family, even the kids, to access it.
Calendar
Shared lists and notes
Cost: Free – with app upgrades available at a charge.
7. Custody Connection
Custody Connection is another good calendar app – it is a syncable cloud-based custody calendar iPhone App. It acts as your primary calendar, that you can sync with a co-parent. It allows for ‘trade requests’ and auto tracks custody arrangements throughout the year.
Calendar
Custody schedule
Info bank
Cost: Free – with app upgrades available at a charge.
8. Coparently
child custody app
Source: Coparently
Coparently uniquely allows for free guest access for others including caregivers and family law professionals – as well as covering off the basic functions that other co-parenting apps have.
Calendar
Custody Schedule
Expense Log
Message Log
Shared Contacts
Cost: Free trial. $9.99 per month or $99 per year (per parent).
9. Baby Connect
Baby Connect website screenshot
Source: Baby Connect
Specifically designed for parents of babies, Baby Connect coordinates your baby’s sleeping schedule, feedings, any medication, and doctor visits. It designed to share information about a baby’s routine – which we think can be utilised by separated couples too!
You can also set reminders for your baby’s next feeding and share this information with others caring for your child. While not specifically designed for divorced parents – you can see that it would be great to help separated parents coordinate and maintain routines for their young one! Several authorised users can be specified for each child: parents, family, daycare staff, with entries that are immediately synchronised on each user account.
Cost: $4.99
Conclusion
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