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What Is a Parenting Plan?

A parenting plan is a document that must be filed with the court if there are children in a Dissolution of Marriage case, a Paternity case, or a Modification of Time Sharing/Custody case. The parenting plan lays out the parenting that the parties will use in the future, the time sharing schedule, and how to implement that successfully.

In the parenting plan, you include whether you will have sole or shared parenting.

You also include how decisions regarding child’s extracurricular activities will be paid for and who may enroll the child in extracurricular activities.

The parenting plan details the rights and obligations of each parent in regards to the child.

The Parenting Plan also deals with regular time sharing between the parents and the child, along with the holiday time sharing schedule, and the summer break time sharing schedule.

The Parenting Plan discusses the Transportation and Exchange of the child during timesharing/visitation.

The Parenting Plan discusses out of state and out of country travel; and whether that will be allowed.

The Parenting Plan discusses the education of the child and which school district and/or school the child will attend.

The Parenting Plan reviews how the parties will communicate with child; and how the parties will communicate between themselves. For example, will you communicate by telephone, text, email, Skype? And, the Parenting Plan discusses who will pay for such communication.

The Parenting Plan also discusses child care for the child and how child care for the child will be chosen.