WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.239
Hi, I'm Matthew Brickman, Florida Supreme court mediator. Welcome to the Mediate This! Podcast where we discuss everything mediation and conflict resolution.resolution.
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.480
I'm excited to share what I have been up to for the past number of months.
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:44.000
So uh let's go back to May of 2026 when I had a mediation and uh it lasted about six hours, and unfortunately, we spent uh almost half of that time with two attorneys arguing back and forth about the calculation and the number of overnights based on the parenting plan negotiated.
00:00:44.000 --> 00:01:03.679
And I have had this conversation numerous times, um, but never to the point where we spent hours and it cost the mother and father hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, being that the two attorneys couldn't agree on the numbers.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:15.439
And so when I was done with mediation, I was actually quite upset over the whole thing because I really hate when people are wasting money in a negotiation.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:24.719
As a mediator, my goal is to help people get through mediation as quickly, as inexpensively, and as peacefully as possible.
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:31.359
Um, unfortunately, with this one particular mediation, the inexpensive was not what happened.
00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:37.519
We did settle it, but um it was not uh inexpensive to get there.
00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:49.439
So when I was done with that mediation, I was like, there has got to be a tool out there somewhere where I can calculate overnights for a parenting plan.
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:57.840
And so I got online and I started to Google and couldn't find anything, and so then I decided to engage AI.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:04.799
And I don't engage AI that often, but I decided let me see if AI can help.
00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:12.319
And I just couldn't find anything out there that would really give me what I was truly looking for.
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:23.120
So I decided to utilize the AI that I had and start building my own time-sharing calculator.
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.680
And I did so.
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.800
It took a number of months, but I did so.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:41.120
And so I am excited to share with you uh what I did, give you a little behind the scenes on how I did, uh, create it, and give you a little bit of a walk to uh walkthrough.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:57.280
But um what I first did was uh I engaged an AI platform that I was able to just use plain language and just talk to it and say, look, this is what I'm looking for, this is what I want to do.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.520
Are you able to do this?
00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:11.120
And then um I was able to explain from a mediator standpoint, not from a computer programmer standpoint, but from a mediator saying, This is what I do every day.
00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:29.360
I need to be able to create a calculator where I can help the parents choose a time-sharing schedule based on weekdays and then weekends and then holidays, whether it's a particular day or whether it's an academic break.
00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:58.479
And then I went through 18 years of parenting plans and all the different ways that I have helped people negotiate how to divide up or alternate or split uh a holiday or break, and I started to compile those and started to build out then options using the AI generator to create my time-sharing calculator.
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:16.240
And so um what was really great was then how I made it um user-friendly, made it um customizable for so many different various options.
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:32.879
And so when I was done building, and I'm never completely done building because always still, you know, finding new ways to make things uh work better, whether it's a workflow, whether it's a layout, or even adding options.
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:43.439
I mean, you know, people are creative, and I'm mediating every day, and people are still having really creative options that they like when it comes to their time sharing.
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.519
And so I'm like, that's a really great option.
00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.920
And so then I add it to the calculator.
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.959
So it's constantly being added to the calculator as I mediate every day.
00:04:52.959 --> 00:05:11.120
And um, as of the date of recording this podcast episode, um, which is September 2026, I have already done 155 mediations this year, and we're only in the beginning of September.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.959
I still have all of September, October, November, and December left.
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:20.079
And I've already mediated 155 cases.
00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:45.360
And so I have been using my calculator since May when I built it, and it has just saved so much time and money for the parties because I can just quickly go through, we can look at the options for the time sharing, and then get an exact number of overnights for the parents for the child support purposes.
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:53.279
And that's where the parenting plan and the numbers are so important because it affects child support.
00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:58.959
And we don't want to double-dip numbers, we don't want to add numbers or subtract numbers where they shouldn't be.
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:07.199
We need to actually get an accurate number count so that the child support is accurate for the courts and for the parents.
00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:18.079
And so there's two points there's a parenting plan component and a time-sharing calculation that I really wanted to integrate in this app.
00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:29.680
And so what it has developed into is not just a time-sharing calculator, but also a parenting plan builder.
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:44.480
And so, based on what has been created, um the analyzation of the number of decision points in this scheduling application is inexhaustible.
00:06:44.480 --> 00:07:22.319
Um, if I was going to run a unique schedule configuration, then what the AI has told me is that on a conservative lower bound estimate, the application can create somewhere between ten to the eighteenth power to ten to the twentieth power, which equates to somewhere between one quintillion and one hundred quintillion possibilities.
00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:39.199
So basically what that means is if you generated one unique schedule variation every single second, it would roughly take you 31.7 billion years to exhaust all of the various possibilities.
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:43.120
And that is more than twice the age of the universe.
00:07:43.120 --> 00:08:00.240
So it is quite an exhaustible, effective co-parenting tool to not just give you an accurate number of overnights for child support purposes, but also to look at options and build out a parenting plan.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:09.040
And so how it works is this what do you get when you use this tool?
00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.199
Number one, you get the calculation for time sharing.
00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:35.200
You get a weekly schedule builder, it assigns the weekends, it assigns the holidays and breaks, you get a time-sharing summary with statistics, you get a printable annual calendar, and then you also get a schedule summary that is attached to the calendar.
00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:48.240
You can save schedules, you can also save multiple scenarios per schedule, and then you can even export and import schedules between users.
00:08:48.240 --> 00:09:01.120
And there's an entire section in here for creating a customizable weekday weekend uh schedule, which is commonly called a 223 schedule.
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:14.000
So when we generally have really young children from like birth until about four, maybe five years old, or until a child has a schedule, we call that a 223.
00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.120
You can do a week-on, week-off schedule.
00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:34.879
You can also do specialized schedules for firefighters or police or EMS that might have a specialized schedule that just isn't going to fit a normal 223 or a 225 or a 7.7 uh schedule.
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.840
And so we've got a complete customizable rotation schedule.
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:54.720
And so there's a lot of different features and customizable options in the iMediate by Matthew Brickman Time Sharing Calculator that can be found on my website, iChhatMediation.com.
00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:56.240
It's right at the top.
00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:06.320
So when you log in, or not when you log in, when you go to iChatMediation.com, right at the top it says Time Sharing Calculator.
00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:13.679
And when you click that link, it'll take you to a plan page that says choose your plan.
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.519
And there's a video that you can click on to see how it works.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:27.440
You can also see the schedule engine that I just described of how many different unique schedule possibilities you can use.
00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.360
And then it's really simple to use.
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:34.720
You configure, calculate, and then you can compare different time-sharing schedules.
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.600
I do have currently at the time of recording this, I've got two options.
00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.159
I've got a try before you buy option.
00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:47.840
Um, and then I also have a go premium option that you can either do monthly or annually.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:52.159
And monthly it's $10 a month, and you get all of the features.
00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:00.159
And so you can select which plan that you would like to try, and then you can go into the calculator.
00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:07.759
And when you first go into the calculator, you're met with a greeting that says, Do you want to start a new calculation?
00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:17.360
Do you want to access a saved calculation, or do you want to import a saved shared schedule maybe from somebody else?
00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:29.200
So if you're going to create a new calculation, then you can simply name your calculation and create a schedule, and then it starts off at the top with the parents, parent A and parent B.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.519
You can go in and type in your names.
00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:37.360
You can say that Sally is parent A and John is parent B.
00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:45.759
And so then all throughout the calculator, it will now assign who is Sally and who is John, and everybody is color-coded.
00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:49.759
And so you first start off with your weekday weekend schedule.
00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:54.480
As you go to the next section, you can create your weekend schedule.
00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:00.159
So whether it's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, a Friday, Saturday, or a Saturday, Sunday.
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:09.120
And then you've got then options for is it alternating weekends, are we doing a fixed weekends per month, or is one parent getting all the weekends?
00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:13.440
And so you get your options for then creating then your weekends.
00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:28.480
Like I had said before, there is a space for a custom rotation schedule if you need to really get customized and look at weekday weekends and set up rotations.
00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:43.200
And so there's a toggle switch to simply turn it on and off if you want that, and that'll override the weekday weekend schedule right above it, and then make the custom rotation schedule then your weekday weekend schedule.
00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:47.600
As you then go to the next section, you've got your breaks.
00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:51.519
So you've got spring break, summer break, thanksgiving break, and winter break.
00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:57.360
And for each of these, you can simply define using the calendar what is the start date and end date.
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:06.480
So, you know, every single jurisdiction, every single school has their own school calendar for every district.
00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:18.720
And so it's real simple wherever your child is going to school, or if you're a practitioner, wherever your uh party or whether your client is going uh to be living.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.440
For example, if they're in Palm Beach County, you would pull the Palm Beach County school calendar.
00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:27.279
If they're in Davy County, you pick Davy.
00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.840
If they're in Manatee County, you pick Manatee.
00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:42.000
So you just pull the school calendar and it'll tell you how that particular school calendar and that county define spring break, summer break, Thanksgiving break, and winter break.
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.639
And so you can simply then put in the start date and the end date there to then define what is spring break.
00:13:48.639 --> 00:14:03.360
Then you've got all of your different options for how you want to deal with spring break, whether it's following your regular schedule, alternating even in odd years, and then you've got some options for splitting time or one parent gets every spring break.
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.720
You then go to the next section, which is summer break.
00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:23.360
You can define your summer break, and under summer break, you've got lots of different options, whether it's following the regular schedule, alternating a week on, week off, two weeks on, two weeks off, dividing the summer in half, however, you wish to then define the summer break.
00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.480
You go then to Thanksgiving break.
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:36.960
Just like the rest of them, you would define the dates, and then you've got lots of different options for Thanksgiving break and for winter break, same thing.
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.799
You would define that, and you've got multiple options then for dividing up then the winter break.
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:52.639
If you need to add a break, say for example, maybe you live in the Northeast and there might be an extra break, maybe there's a fall break that is not listed here.
00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.120
You can always add multiple breaks.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:09.519
So you can customize it, uh, define it what uh whatever you want to define the name of the break, and then put in your start and end date, and then you've got then different options for how you want to deal with that particular break.
00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:18.159
The next section is miscellaneous holidays, and that's where we would have like Martin Luther King Day and President's Day and Memorial Day.
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:35.360
You might have Easter and Mother's Day and Father's Day and then Halloween, and you can always customize and add more holidays whether it's a certain uh religious holiday that maybe you or your client observes.
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:41.840
You can always add that holiday, define the dates for that holiday, and then pick your options.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:58.639
Once you build out all of that, you'll get an overnight summary saying, okay, well, this is how many weeknights, weekend nights, break nights, and holiday nights Sally has, and this is how many weeknights, weekend nights, break nights, and holiday nights John has.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:11.360
And it'll tell you right there, you've got a color graph, plus you've got your percentages that can tell you, well, based on your scenario, you have a 50-50, 55-45, 80-20, whatever that percentage actually comes down to.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:21.679
And it gives you an exact number of overnights per year, and that's then what we can use then to determine what the child support is going to be.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:28.720
Now, right underneath that, there are two buttons for save the scenario or view the annual calendar.
00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:53.279
So if you want to run, if you want to save that particular scenario, you just hit save scenario, and then you can go back to the top and create a completely separate scenario and say, well, wait a second, what if instead of you know Sally having Mondays and Tuesdays and John has Wednesday, Thursday, what would it look like if Sally had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and John only had Thursday?
00:16:53.279 --> 00:17:05.039
And maybe you leave all the other variables the same, and then you go to the bottom and it says, well, it's maybe it's a 6436 split, but you get an exact number.
00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:09.039
It's 234 overnights for Sally, 131 for John.
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.680
So then you can save that scenario.
00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.960
So you can save multiple scenarios, and then you can choose which scenario finally in your negotiation.
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:51.920
You can pick your scenario that you finally want to land on, and you can always view annual calendar, and it will show you then how many overnights Sally has and how many John has, and you've got a color-coded calendar that then shows you the weekday weekends, the spring break, the summer break, the winter break, the Thanksgiving break, whatever other customized breaks, and then you've got your holidays, whether it's Mother's Day and Father's Day, whether it's Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, all of those are then based on what you chose as your options.
00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:58.799
You will see that then on a printable color-coded calendar that you can attach to your agreement.
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.920
You can print out and hang on your refrigerator, but you've got an annual calendar showing you all 12 months.
00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:25.119
And when you then print and save that calendar, you will also then see on page two of the calendar that then it gives you a breakdown of what options you just chose for weekday, weekend, your breaks, and then your miscellaneous holidays.
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:30.400
And those should match up then to the parenting plan that is created.
00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:55.039
And so this is just an amazing tool that I have found to really help me as a mediator be able to provide the best service and the most accurate numbers for the parties, but it also helps in the negotiation process because you can see all the different options for whether it's weekday, weekend, holidays, or breaks.
00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:59.119
A lot of people come in and they don't even know what they don't know.
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.359
They don't even know all the different options.
00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:21.839
And so the time-sharing calculator and parenting plan builder that I've created using AI gives me that ability to help negotiate and create parenting plans and create accurate child support guidelines worksheets.
00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:31.440
And so I really encourage you go visit iChatmediation.com, click on the time sharing calculator, and start using it for yourself.
00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:35.279
I know that it's a great tool that you will really love.
00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:42.640
Occasionally I will be releasing Q&A bonus episodes where I will answer your questions and give you a personal shout out.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:19:59.119
If you have a comment or question regarding anything that we discuss, email us at info@ichatmediation.com that's info@ichatmediation.com and stay tuned to hear your shout out and have your question answered here on the show.
For more information about my services or to schedule your mediation with me, either in person or using my iChatMediation Virtual Platform built by Cisco Communications. Visit me online at www.iMediateInc.com. Call me at 561-262-9121, Toll-Free at 877-822-1479 or email me at MBrickman@iChatMediation.com.If you have a comment or question regarding anything that we discuss, email us at info@ichatmediation.com that's info@ichatmediation.com and stay tuned to hear your shout out and have your question answered here on the show.
For more information about my services or to schedule your mediation with me, either in person or using my iChatMediation Virtual Platform built by Cisco Communications. Visit me online at www.iMediateInc.com. Call me at 561-262-9121, Toll-Free at 877-822-1479 or email me at MBrickman@iChatMediation.com.iChatMediation.com.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.239
Hi, I'm Matthew Brickman, Florida Supreme court mediator. Welcome to the Mediate This! Podcast where we discuss everything mediation and conflict resolution.resolution.
00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.480
I'm excited to share what I have been up to for the past number of months.
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:44.000
So uh let's go back to May of 2026 when I had a mediation and uh it lasted about six hours, and unfortunately, we spent uh almost half of that time with two attorneys arguing back and forth about the calculation and the number of overnights based on the parenting plan negotiated.
00:00:44.000 --> 00:01:03.679
And I have had this conversation numerous times, um, but never to the point where we spent hours and it cost the mother and father hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, being that the two attorneys couldn't agree on the numbers.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:15.439
And so when I was done with mediation, I was actually quite upset over the whole thing because I really hate when people are wasting money in a negotiation.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:24.719
As a mediator, my goal is to help people get through mediation as quickly, as inexpensively, and as peacefully as possible.
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:31.359
Um, unfortunately, with this one particular mediation, the inexpensive was not what happened.
00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:37.519
We did settle it, but um it was not uh inexpensive to get there.
00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:49.439
So when I was done with that mediation, I was like, there has got to be a tool out there somewhere where I can calculate overnights for a parenting plan.
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:57.840
And so I got online and I started to Google and couldn't find anything, and so then I decided to engage AI.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:04.799
And I don't engage AI that often, but I decided let me see if AI can help.
00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:12.319
And I just couldn't find anything out there that would really give me what I was truly looking for.
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:23.120
So I decided to utilize the AI that I had and start building my own time-sharing calculator.
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.680
And I did so.
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.800
It took a number of months, but I did so.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:41.120
And so I am excited to share with you uh what I did, give you a little behind the scenes on how I did, uh, create it, and give you a little bit of a walk to uh walkthrough.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:57.280
But um what I first did was uh I engaged an AI platform that I was able to just use plain language and just talk to it and say, look, this is what I'm looking for, this is what I want to do.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.520
Are you able to do this?
00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:11.120
And then um I was able to explain from a mediator standpoint, not from a computer programmer standpoint, but from a mediator saying, This is what I do every day.
00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:29.360
I need to be able to create a calculator where I can help the parents choose a time-sharing schedule based on weekdays and then weekends and then holidays, whether it's a particular day or whether it's an academic break.
00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:58.479
And then I went through 18 years of parenting plans and all the different ways that I have helped people negotiate how to divide up or alternate or split uh a holiday or break, and I started to compile those and started to build out then options using the AI generator to create my time-sharing calculator.
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:16.240
And so um what was really great was then how I made it um user-friendly, made it um customizable for so many different various options.
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:32.879
And so when I was done building, and I'm never completely done building because always still, you know, finding new ways to make things uh work better, whether it's a workflow, whether it's a layout, or even adding options.
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:43.439
I mean, you know, people are creative, and I'm mediating every day, and people are still having really creative options that they like when it comes to their time sharing.
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.519
And so I'm like, that's a really great option.
00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.920
And so then I add it to the calculator.
00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.959
So it's constantly being added to the calculator as I mediate every day.
00:04:52.959 --> 00:05:11.120
And um, as of the date of recording this podcast episode, um, which is September 2026, I have already done 155 mediations this year, and we're only in the beginning of September.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.959
I still have all of September, October, November, and December left.
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:20.079
And I've already mediated 155 cases.
00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:45.360
And so I have been using my calculator since May when I built it, and it has just saved so much time and money for the parties because I can just quickly go through, we can look at the options for the time sharing, and then get an exact number of overnights for the parents for the child support purposes.
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:53.279
And that's where the parenting plan and the numbers are so important because it affects child support.
00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:58.959
And we don't want to double-dip numbers, we don't want to add numbers or subtract numbers where they shouldn't be.
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:07.199
We need to actually get an accurate number count so that the child support is accurate for the courts and for the parents.
00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:18.079
And so there's two points there's a parenting plan component and a time-sharing calculation that I really wanted to integrate in this app.
00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:29.680
And so what it has developed into is not just a time-sharing calculator, but also a parenting plan builder.
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:44.480
And so, based on what has been created, um the analyzation of the number of decision points in this scheduling application is inexhaustible.
00:06:44.480 --> 00:07:22.319
Um, if I was going to run a unique schedule configuration, then what the AI has told me is that on a conservative lower bound estimate, the application can create somewhere between ten to the eighteenth power to ten to the twentieth power, which equates to somewhere between one quintillion and one hundred quintillion possibilities.
00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:39.199
So basically what that means is if you generated one unique schedule variation every single second, it would roughly take you 31.7 billion years to exhaust all of the various possibilities.
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:43.120
And that is more than twice the age of the universe.
00:07:43.120 --> 00:08:00.240
So it is quite an exhaustible, effective co-parenting tool to not just give you an accurate number of overnights for child support purposes, but also to look at options and build out a parenting plan.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:09.040
And so how it works is this what do you get when you use this tool?
00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.199
Number one, you get the calculation for time sharing.
00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:35.200
You get a weekly schedule builder, it assigns the weekends, it assigns the holidays and breaks, you get a time-sharing summary with statistics, you get a printable annual calendar, and then you also get a schedule summary that is attached to the calendar.
00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:48.240
You can save schedules, you can also save multiple scenarios per schedule, and then you can even export and import schedules between users.
00:08:48.240 --> 00:09:01.120
And there's an entire section in here for creating a customizable weekday weekend uh schedule, which is commonly called a 223 schedule.
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:14.000
So when we generally have really young children from like birth until about four, maybe five years old, or until a child has a schedule, we call that a 223.
00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.120
You can do a week-on, week-off schedule.
00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:34.879
You can also do specialized schedules for firefighters or police or EMS that might have a specialized schedule that just isn't going to fit a normal 223 or a 225 or a 7.7 uh schedule.
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.840
And so we've got a complete customizable rotation schedule.
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:54.720
And so there's a lot of different features and customizable options in the iMediate by Matthew Brickman Time Sharing Calculator that can be found on my website, iChhatMediation.com.
00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:56.240
It's right at the top.
00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:06.320
So when you log in, or not when you log in, when you go to iChatMediation.com, right at the top it says Time Sharing Calculator.
00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:13.679
And when you click that link, it'll take you to a plan page that says choose your plan.
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.519
And there's a video that you can click on to see how it works.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:27.440
You can also see the schedule engine that I just described of how many different unique schedule possibilities you can use.
00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.360
And then it's really simple to use.
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:34.720
You configure, calculate, and then you can compare different time-sharing schedules.
00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.600
I do have currently at the time of recording this, I've got two options.
00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.159
I've got a try before you buy option.
00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:47.840
Um, and then I also have a go premium option that you can either do monthly or annually.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:52.159
And monthly it's $10 a month, and you get all of the features.
00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:00.159
And so you can select which plan that you would like to try, and then you can go into the calculator.
00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:07.759
And when you first go into the calculator, you're met with a greeting that says, Do you want to start a new calculation?
00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:17.360
Do you want to access a saved calculation, or do you want to import a saved shared schedule maybe from somebody else?
00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:29.200
So if you're going to create a new calculation, then you can simply name your calculation and create a schedule, and then it starts off at the top with the parents, parent A and parent B.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.519
You can go in and type in your names.
00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:37.360
You can say that Sally is parent A and John is parent B.
00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:45.759
And so then all throughout the calculator, it will now assign who is Sally and who is John, and everybody is color-coded.
00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:49.759
And so you first start off with your weekday weekend schedule.
00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:54.480
As you go to the next section, you can create your weekend schedule.
00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:00.159
So whether it's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, a Friday, Saturday, or a Saturday, Sunday.
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:09.120
And then you've got then options for is it alternating weekends, are we doing a fixed weekends per month, or is one parent getting all the weekends?
00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:13.440
And so you get your options for then creating then your weekends.
00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:28.480
Like I had said before, there is a space for a custom rotation schedule if you need to really get customized and look at weekday weekends and set up rotations.
00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:43.200
And so there's a toggle switch to simply turn it on and off if you want that, and that'll override the weekday weekend schedule right above it, and then make the custom rotation schedule then your weekday weekend schedule.
00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:47.600
As you then go to the next section, you've got your breaks.
00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:51.519
So you've got spring break, summer break, thanksgiving break, and winter break.
00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:57.360
And for each of these, you can simply define using the calendar what is the start date and end date.
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:06.480
So, you know, every single jurisdiction, every single school has their own school calendar for every district.
00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:18.720
And so it's real simple wherever your child is going to school, or if you're a practitioner, wherever your uh party or whether your client is going uh to be living.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.440
For example, if they're in Palm Beach County, you would pull the Palm Beach County school calendar.
00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:27.279
If they're in Davy County, you pick Davy.
00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.840
If they're in Manatee County, you pick Manatee.
00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:42.000
So you just pull the school calendar and it'll tell you how that particular school calendar and that county define spring break, summer break, Thanksgiving break, and winter break.
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.639
And so you can simply then put in the start date and the end date there to then define what is spring break.
00:13:48.639 --> 00:14:03.360
Then you've got all of your different options for how you want to deal with spring break, whether it's following your regular schedule, alternating even in odd years, and then you've got some options for splitting time or one parent gets every spring break.
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.720
You then go to the next section, which is summer break.
00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:23.360
You can define your summer break, and under summer break, you've got lots of different options, whether it's following the regular schedule, alternating a week on, week off, two weeks on, two weeks off, dividing the summer in half, however, you wish to then define the summer break.
00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.480
You go then to Thanksgiving break.
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:36.960
Just like the rest of them, you would define the dates, and then you've got lots of different options for Thanksgiving break and for winter break, same thing.
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.799
You would define that, and you've got multiple options then for dividing up then the winter break.
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:52.639
If you need to add a break, say for example, maybe you live in the Northeast and there might be an extra break, maybe there's a fall break that is not listed here.
00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.120
You can always add multiple breaks.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:09.519
So you can customize it, uh, define it what uh whatever you want to define the name of the break, and then put in your start and end date, and then you've got then different options for how you want to deal with that particular break.
00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:18.159
The next section is miscellaneous holidays, and that's where we would have like Martin Luther King Day and President's Day and Memorial Day.
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:35.360
You might have Easter and Mother's Day and Father's Day and then Halloween, and you can always customize and add more holidays whether it's a certain uh religious holiday that maybe you or your client observes.
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:41.840
You can always add that holiday, define the dates for that holiday, and then pick your options.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:58.639
Once you build out all of that, you'll get an overnight summary saying, okay, well, this is how many weeknights, weekend nights, break nights, and holiday nights Sally has, and this is how many weeknights, weekend nights, break nights, and holiday nights John has.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:11.360
And it'll tell you right there, you've got a color graph, plus you've got your percentages that can tell you, well, based on your scenario, you have a 50-50, 55-45, 80-20, whatever that percentage actually comes down to.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:21.679
And it gives you an exact number of overnights per year, and that's then what we can use then to determine what the child support is going to be.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:28.720
Now, right underneath that, there are two buttons for save the scenario or view the annual calendar.
00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:53.279
So if you want to run, if you want to save that particular scenario, you just hit save scenario, and then you can go back to the top and create a completely separate scenario and say, well, wait a second, what if instead of you know Sally having Mondays and Tuesdays and John has Wednesday, Thursday, what would it look like if Sally had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and John only had Thursday?
00:16:53.279 --> 00:17:05.039
And maybe you leave all the other variables the same, and then you go to the bottom and it says, well, it's maybe it's a 6436 split, but you get an exact number.
00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:09.039
It's 234 overnights for Sally, 131 for John.
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.680
So then you can save that scenario.
00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.960
So you can save multiple scenarios, and then you can choose which scenario finally in your negotiation.
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:51.920
You can pick your scenario that you finally want to land on, and you can always view annual calendar, and it will show you then how many overnights Sally has and how many John has, and you've got a color-coded calendar that then shows you the weekday weekends, the spring break, the summer break, the winter break, the Thanksgiving break, whatever other customized breaks, and then you've got your holidays, whether it's Mother's Day and Father's Day, whether it's Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day, all of those are then based on what you chose as your options.
00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:58.799
You will see that then on a printable color-coded calendar that you can attach to your agreement.
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.920
You can print out and hang on your refrigerator, but you've got an annual calendar showing you all 12 months.
00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:25.119
And when you then print and save that calendar, you will also then see on page two of the calendar that then it gives you a breakdown of what options you just chose for weekday, weekend, your breaks, and then your miscellaneous holidays.
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:30.400
And those should match up then to the parenting plan that is created.
00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:55.039
And so this is just an amazing tool that I have found to really help me as a mediator be able to provide the best service and the most accurate numbers for the parties, but it also helps in the negotiation process because you can see all the different options for whether it's weekday, weekend, holidays, or breaks.
00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:59.119
A lot of people come in and they don't even know what they don't know.
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.359
They don't even know all the different options.
00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:21.839
And so the time-sharing calculator and parenting plan builder that I've created using AI gives me that ability to help negotiate and create parenting plans and create accurate child support guidelines worksheets.
00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:31.440
And so I really encourage you go visit iChatmediation.com, click on the time sharing calculator, and start using it for yourself.
00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:35.279
I know that it's a great tool that you will really love.
00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:42.640
Occasionally I will be releasing Q&A bonus episodes where I will answer your questions and give you a personal shout out.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:19:59.119
If you have a comment or question regarding anything that we discuss, email us at info@ichatmediation.com that's info@ichatmediation.com and stay tuned to hear your shout out and have your question answered here on the show.
For more information about my services or to schedule your mediation with me, either in person or using my iChatMediation Virtual Platform built by Cisco Communications. Visit me online at www.iMediateInc.com. Call me at 561-262-9121, Toll-Free at 877-822-1479 or email me at MBrickman@iChatMediation.com.If you have a comment or question regarding anything that we discuss, email us at info@ichatmediation.com that's info@ichatmediation.com and stay tuned to hear your shout out and have your question answered here on the show.
For more information about my services or to schedule your mediation with me, either in person or using my iChatMediation Virtual Platform built by Cisco Communications. Visit me online at www.iMediateInc.com. Call me at 561-262-9121, Toll-Free at 877-822-1479 or email me at MBrickman@iChatMediation.com.iChatMediation.com.
