Parenting Plan

What is a parenting plan?

A parenting plan is a written legal document that outlines how both parents will share responsibilities and make decisions regarding their child after separation, divorce, or when living apart. A parenting plan template is a robust agreement that covers all important aspects of a child’s upbringing, including:

• living arrangements (e.g., during school and school holidays, public holidays, etc.);
• communication between parents and amendment of the document;
• nutrition and diet;
• homework and home chores;
• extracurricular activities;
• living expenses, etc.

A parenting plan agreement template is a necessary document in divorce cases and is often required by family courts across the United States.

What to include in a parenting plan template?

Neither federal nor state laws define the exact format and structure of a parenting plan template. Therefore, parents could include as many arrangements regarding their child’s upbringing as possible. At the same time, a comprehensive co-parenting plan template must address certain elements to ensure the final document is complete and legally valid.

Identification Details

A co-parenting plan template is drafted between two parents or legal guardians. Therefore, their full names, current residential addresses, and contact details must be reflected in the text of a document.

Apart from that, the parenting plan template shall also define the name of a child or children for whom it is being created. All children’s information, including name, gender, and date of birth, shall be provided in accordance with their birth certificates.

Living Arrangements

The core part of every parental plan agreement template is to decide with whom, when, and for how long a child shall live. It may seem an easy task, however in practice it causes a lot of controversies and disputes between the parties. Therefore, we suggest breaking the topic of living arrangements in small groups by deciding on the following:

• Where should the child live during the school term?
• Where should a child live during school holidays?
• Where should the child stay for public holidays (e.g., New Year, Independence Day)?
• Where should the child stay for Christmas and other religious holidays?
• Where should the child stay for the mother’s or father’s birthday?
• With whom should a child celebrate their own birthday?

It is important to remember that the parent plan template must remain a flexible document. Life circumstances may change, including job loss or relocation of either parent. Thus, each parent should have a right to change living arrangements at least once or twice a year.

Other Arrangements

Raising and bringing up a child is a complex task that requires the involvement of both parents. That’s why it is important to make sure that a final parenting plan agreement template reflects the mutual arrangement of both parents regarding:

• education and curricular activities;
• living support (i.e., monthly or weekly expenses for a child);
• sports, lifestyle, and nutrition;
• homework and chores;
• pocket money; and
• common parental values.

Stable and open communication between parents is essential for effective execution of the document. Therefore, a solid parenting plan agreement shall include a specific timeframe within which one parent must respond to the other. For example, it could be 24 hours or 3 days depending on the time zone, working hours of both parents, and other factors.

Governing Law

Defining governing law for every document is a must. If you have seen a parenting plan template Florida, it means that the laws of the state of Florida apply to the execution, interpretation, and termination of this document. Moreover, courts located in this state have a primary right to review any dispute arising from this agreement.

Parties can select any state they want. However, the most common options include:

• a state where either parent currently resides; or
• a state where children will reside after the divorce or separation.

Signatures

Once a parent plan template is ready, both parents must sign it.

To get an extra layer of legal compliance, we recommend adding signatures of two witnesses confirming that the parents whose names are listed in the preamble of a parenting plan agreement sign this document.

How to customize a parenting plan agreement at FasterDraft?

To get a fully customized legal document, follow the instructions given below:

1. Click the “Create Document” button.
2. Answer simple questions in the form.
3. Select a template’s format—parenting plan template PDF or Word.
4. Make a payment.
5. E-sign, download, print, and use this template instantly.