For divorced members of the military who have children, having a family care plan on file is important. This plan outlines what happens to your children if you go out on a deployment or if you're unable to care for them for any reason.

The family care plan must be filed with your commanding officer so they can put it in to place if necessary. Each branch of the service has its own requirements for this plan, so be sure to include the specific points required by your branch.

What points should be in all family care plans?

All family care plans should designate who will care for your children if you aren't able to. The plan will also provide information for that person about the children. Be sure to include the following points:

• An outline for the child's daily schedule
• Medical information for the children
• Locations of important documents
• Calendar for the children's activities
• List of contacts
• Information about dependent ID cards

When you're writing out the family care plan, be sure to be as detailed as possible. This helps to ensure that the person who is caring for your children is prepared to handle the duties. It might even help if you have the person spend some time with you and the children before they have to care for the kids.

If you're planning to divorce or currently going through a divorce, discuss the possibility of training or deployments with your attorney to determine what you should do to protect your relationship with your children. This information can also be included in a parenting plan, which is a civilian document outlining the child custody agreement.