Parenting plans
A schedule your kids can actually live with
A parenting plan says where the children sleep on each night of the year, who decides about school and doctors, and how you'll handle the days nobody planned for.
The best ones are dull: specific enough that nobody has to ask whose weekend it is. We start from your real calendar, the school bells, work shifts and the drive between houses, and write a plan both households can follow without a phone call every Friday.
What a plan covers
Every part of the week, written down
We fill in each of these, so a judge or the two of you never have to guess.
School weeks
Which nights at which house, and who does drop-off and pickup.
Holidays and birthdays
Split by year or by day, with the times written in.
Summer and travel
Longer stretches, trips out of state and notice for passports.
Big decisions
How you'll decide together about school, health care and activities.
Moving away
What happens if one parent wants to move farther than the plan allows.
Changes later
Asking the court to change a plan when the old one no longer fits.
Parenting plan questions
Questions parents bring to the first meeting
Is there a standard schedule?
Courts don't hand out one schedule for every family. Many plans split time close to evenly, but the right one depends on your children's ages, school and where each of you lives.
Can we change the plan ourselves later?
You can agree to small changes day to day. A lasting change should go back to the court, so the order matches how you actually live.
What if the other parent won't follow it?
Keep a simple record of missed exchanges, then call us. The court can enforce its own order.
Bring your calendar to the first meeting
The real one, with the practices and the shift changes. It's where a good plan starts.