Make a plan for childcare, visitation, and support: Parenting Plan

A Parenting Plan, also known as a Custody Agreement, is an agreement between the parents of children, typically entered into during a divorce or legal separation. A court may require the parents to put a plan in place, or the parents may decide for their own well-being that a written plan is best for themselves and their children. 

A Parenting Plan will include details of legal and physical custody of children; visitation rights and a visitation schedule that includes school holidays, summers, and vacations; childcare; health insurance; and child support. Once the details are agreed upon and put in writing, the Parenting Plan is typically held as an informal agreement between parents, or can be filed with a court and accompany court orders which are legally binding.

Some of the types of information you may encounter as you make your Parenting Plan are discussed below.

Children in a Legal Separation or Divorce

When a couple decides to separate or divorce, any minor children of their marriage/relationship may be listed in their Parenting Plan and issues of custody, visitation and child support may be outlined if a different court has not previously handled them. A minor child is any child that has not reached the age of majority (usually 18), and is either a child born during the marriage, a child born before the marriage, or the adoptive child of both parties. So long as both parties to this action have an obligation to support a child, the child should be listed in the plan.

Types of Child Custody

Both legal and physical custody (in some states, the "allocation of parental responsibilities") should be established. Legal custody refers to which parent will have the ability to make important decisions regarding the minor children's education, religion, health matters, and any other important decisions. Physical custody refers to which parent will have the children residing with them on a primary basis. Any combination of arrangements is possible. It's best for the parents to take into consideration the best interests of the children and the children's schedules. It's common for parents to have joint legal custody while one parent has primary physical custody. This type of custody arrangement ensures that both parents are able to play an active role in important decision-making of the children while the children continue to maintain a stable home environment. 

There are two types of legal custody: 

• Joint Legal Custody – In a joint legal custody arrangement, both parents are entitled to equal access to all information regarding their children's education, medical records, and legal records. In addition, both parents have authority to make important decisions regarding the minor children's education, religion, medical, and legal needs.
• Sole Legal Custody – In a sole legal custody arrangement, both parents are entitled to access to information regarding their children's education, medical records, and legal records. However, only one parent has authority to make important decisions regarding the minor children's education, religion, medical, and legal needs.

There are three types of physical custody arrangements: 

• Joint/Split Custody – In this custody arrangement, both parents share equal time with the children. This arrangement is typically only feasible when both parents reside in close proximity to one another or in the same city where the children's education and schedule would not be disadvantaged. This arrangement can entail having the parents alternate time with the children every other week, every other month, or every half-week (one parent has the children 3 days one week and 4 days the following week). The idea is for the parents to each have the children a substantially equal number of days each year. 
• Primary Custody – In this custody arrangement the children's primary residence is with one parent. The other parent would receive reasonable visitation, typically every other weekend and potentially one overnight during the week. Visitation arrangements typically depend on the proximity of the parents. If one parent resides out of state, visitation arrangements should be reasonable considering the effect on the children. 
• Sole Custody – In this custody arrangement the children reside with one parent and this parent has sole discretion over major decisions regarding the children. This arrangement is typically only chosen when one parent desires a limited role and involvement in the children's lives. Visitation can be arranged but is typically less frequent than under a primary physical custody arrangement.

Joint Child Custody Arrangements

Parents who intend to share joint custody will need to outline the specific details of their custody agreement (or, in some states, their agreement for the "allocation of parental responsibilities"). The best interests of the children, including stability, should be considered when outlining the custody arrangements. Examples of a few joint custody arrangements include the following: 

• Weekly – The parents agree to alternate weeks with the children. Parent A has the children from Sunday-Sunday and delivers the children to Parent B Sunday evening. Parent B has the children from Sunday evening to the following Sunday evening when the children are delivered to Parent A. 
• Monthly – The parents agree to alternate custody monthly. The minor children will reside with Parent A during January, March, May, July, September, and November. The minor children will reside with Parent B during February, April, June, August, and October. The parent with whom the children will reside in the coming month will pick up the children on the morning of the first day of each such month. The parent without custody in a given month will receive visitation every other weekend from Friday-Sunday. 
• General – The parents agree that due to their fluctuating work schedules, they will work together to divide time with the children on a substantially equal basis. The parents will work together in sharing their work schedules so that arrangements may be made for the children. To the greatest extent possible the parents will attempt to ensure that when one parent is working the other parent will have the children in his or her care.

Other Child Custody Arrangements

If the parties have agreed to any other custody arrangement, they may want to clarify it in the Parenting Plan. If the parents have an agreement to allow another person, such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle, to have legal or physical custody, that arrangement can be fully detailed in the agreement. The parties can also indicate the terms of this custody agreement, including whether this arrangement is temporary or permanent. 

Child Visitation Schedule

The parents can clearly outline the visitation schedule in the Parenting Plan template. The visitation schedule may be detailed to help prevent enforcement issues in the future. It's typical for the non-custodial parent to have the children a minimum of every other weekend and one overnight each week provided the parents live close to one another. However, it's up to the parents to agree on a visitation schedule that's in the best interests of the children. For very young children, it's common for no overnight visitation until the children reach a certain age. It's important for parents to consider the best interests of the children, the children's education, extracurricular activities, and age when deciding on a visitation schedule. 

Holiday Visitation

In addition to regularly scheduled visitation, parents often rotate or divide holiday time with the children. Parents often divide the holidays such that each parent receives a particular holiday every other year unless the parents have strong desires to have the children on a particular holiday each and every year. Parents can also decide to share time with the children on holidays. 

Holiday visitation may supersede any regularly scheduled visitation schedule set in place. Any lost regularly scheduled visitation is not usually made up.

Summer Visitation

The non-custodial parent may be given additional visitation with the children during the summer months. This visitation may include extra weekday or weekend visitation. Many parents consider this option to share the cost of or decrease the amount of childcare costs while the children are not in school. 

*Keep in mind summer visitation and extended visitation may affect the child support amount and could be considered a factor when calculating the amount of child support owed.

Extended Visitation

Extended visitation is typically provided to the non-custodial parent in a sole physical custody or primary physical custody arrangement. Extended visitation refers to a continuous extended period of time the non-custodial parent will have with the children. While this can take place during the summer months, it may also take place at any point during the year so long as the children's education is not negatively affected by the visitation. Parents in this situation sometimes indicate in the Parenting Plan template the number of weeks given to the non-custodial parent and the final notification date. The final notification date is the final date the non-custodial parent has to notify the custodial parent of the weeks chosen for their extended visitation. 

*Keep in mind summer visitation and extended visitation may affect the child support amount and could be considered a factor when calculating the amount of child support owed.

Exchange Point

A visitation exchange takes place each time a child goes from the physical custody of one parent to the other. Depending on the nature of the parents' relationship, and whether or not any restraining orders are in place, parents may want to specify a certain location for the exchange to take place. 

Child Support

Each state has varying laws concerning child support. It's important to consider your state's requirements when calculating child support. Each state has its own way of calculating child support based on a variety of factors, which can include income of the non-custodial parent, income of the custodial parent, number of children, other obligations, whether health insurance is provided, etc. In addition, some states handle child support matters in a separate action. If the court has already established a child support obligation, that information should be included in the Parenting Plan unless the amount is outdated and a new support obligation is being calculated based on more current information. 

Income Disclosure

Both parties may need to disclose all sources of income in the Parenting Plan or Custody Agreement. The judge reviewing your legal separation case may use the income of each party to determine how reasonable the child support or spousal support amounts are. You may need to include all income regardless of the source. Types of income can include: 

• Employment pay. 
• Spousal support payments received. 
• Rental income. 
• Child support payments received. 
• Welfare. 
• Social security payments. 
• Retirement income. 
• Investment income. 
• Dividends. 
• Any other type of income received or earned.

Health Insurance

Parents are typically required to provide insurance for their minor children so long as they have the means and ability. If insurance is unavailable to the parents, it's the parents' responsibility to contact a state agency that can provide free or low cost health insurance for the minor children.  It's typical for the parent who has the lowest costing health insurance through their employment to provide the coverage. Health insurance is considered a factor when calculating child support.

Health and Medical Insurance During Legal Separation

In many states, the separating spouses can remain on the same insurance policy after a formal legal separation is granted. The primary insurer or holder of the insurance policy should be careful when making any changes to the existing policy during a legal separation as some states will not allow you to remove a spouse from your plan during a legal separation without their consent. It is common for a spouse to continue to pay for health and medical insurance for the other spouse if it is available to them through their employment or some other means.  However, spouses may also decide to remain on the same policy and divide the cost of the premium during the legal separation. The parties can use the legal separation period as time for either or both spouses to assess the cost of individual coverage plans. It is important to remember if the parties decide to convert their legal separation to a divorce, they will likely be unable to continue to remain on the same insurance policy. You should contact your insurance provider for more information and details in this regard.

College Fees

Parents may decide to include the cost of college expenses within the Parenting Plan template to avoid misunderstandings or disagreements in the future over which parent is responsible. It may be a simple agreement that one parent is responsible for costs of college expenses, or the parents may decide to split the costs. The agreed-upon arrangement can be detailed in the plan.

Dispute Resolution

When possible, the parents may want to discuss the issues of raising their children and try to reach an agreement that is best for the children at that time. If the parents cannot reach an agreement, it may be necessary to bring in a third party to help resolve the dispute and make a decision. Here are some examples of common dispute resolution methods: 

• Arranging for the parents to meet with a counselor to try and reach an agreement. 
• Arranging for the parents to meet with a trained mediator to try and reach an agreement. 
• Name an arbitrator and after each parent presents what he or she thinks is best for the children, the arbitrator will make the final decisions.

Tax Exemption

The parties may discuss how the tax exemption will be divided for each child. It's common for parents with an even number of children to equally divide the children as exemptions. If the parties have only one child or an odd number of children, it's common for the parties to rotate the exemption every other year. The parents may also consider who will receive the most tax benefit by claiming the minor children when making this decision. To ensure that the parents follow the agreement reached, they should each complete IRS Form 8332-Release of Claim to Exemption for Child, which can be filed with their taxes. 

Examples of Tax Exemption agreements: 

"The parties agree Parent A will be entitled to claim the minor children for tax purposes in this year and every year thereafter."

"The parties agree Parent A will be entitled to claim Child A for tax purposes this year and every year thereafter. The parties agree Parent B will be entitled to claim Child B for tax purposes this year and every year thereafter."

"The parties agree Parent A will be entitled to claim Child A in even numbered years and Parent B will be entitled to claim Child A in odd numbered years."

Signing and Filing the Parenting Plan

The Parenting Plan is typically signed by both parties in front of a notary public. Once the agreement is signed, it may be filed in the proper court if it's part of a legal separation, divorce, or child custody action or other formal legal proceeding. There's no guarantee the terms of the Parenting Plan will be accepted by the judge. Each judge will use his or her discretion in assessing the reasonability, fairness, and acceptability of the plan. A judge is typically more likely to approve the plan when all provisions provide for a fair and reasonable settlement for both parties.