A parenting plan is more than a general agreement that parents will “share custody.” An effective parenting plan should explain how parenting responsibilities will actually work after separation.

Detailed parenting plans can reduce uncertainty for parents and children by establishing when each parent is responsible for the child, how exchanges will occur, and how important decisions will be handled.

The Parenting Schedule Should Be Specific

A custody order should clearly identify each parent’s periods of physical responsibility.

The source materials emphasize that the schedule should be specific enough that someone looking only at the court order and a calendar could determine which parent is responsible for the child at a particular time.

That can mean addressing:

• The regular weekly schedule
• Exchange dates and times
• Exchange locations
• Holidays and special occasions
• Vacations
• How the regular schedule resumes after a holiday or vacation

Specific terms can become especially valuable when parents disagree later.

For example, saying that a parent will have “reasonable visitation” may create more room for disagreement than identifying specific days, times, and exchange procedures.

Legal Custody Should Also Be Clear

Parenting plans should distinguish physical custody from legal custody.

Physical custody concerns the child’s time and physical care. Legal custody concerns responsibility for important decisions involving the child’s health, education, and welfare.

With sole legal custody, one parent has the right and responsibility to make those decisions. With joint legal custody, the parents share that responsibility.

A joint legal custody order can also identify particular circumstances in which both parents must consent before a decision is made.

Clear decision-making provisions can help prevent future disagreements over issues such as schooling and medical care.

Temporary and Final Orders Can Matter Differently

Another important consideration is whether the parenting plan is intended to be temporary or final.

This distinction can become significant if one parent later requests a modification. California’s changed-circumstances standard does not apply identically to every type of custody or parenting-time modification.

The source materials recommend that parenting plans expressly state whether they are intended to be temporary or permanent.

The nature of the existing order and the type of modification requested can affect the standard the court applies later.

Detail Can Help Prevent Future Conflict

Parents cannot anticipate every situation that may arise as their children grow. A parenting plan also does not need to turn every minor parenting decision into a court order.

However, the core schedule and responsibilities should be sufficiently clear to be understood and enforced.

Specific exchange provisions, holiday schedules, decision-making responsibilities, and physical custody periods can provide parents with a dependable framework. When disagreements arise, a well-written parenting plan can answer many practical questions without requiring the parents to renegotiate the basic schedule each time.