A parenting plan is the required written court-ordered plan or agreement that defines how parents share legal decision making and parenting time after separation or divorce. It is one of the most important documents in any family law case involving children because it governs the day-to-day reality of the child's life for years.

A complete parenting plan addresses legal decision making authority, the regular weekly schedule, holiday and school break schedules built around the actual school calendar the children attend, summer schedule, exchanges and transportation, communication between parents, extracurricular decisions and costs, medical decisions and information sharing, travel and international provisions including passport control, relocation procedures, and a dispute resolution process before either parent files a court motion.

Arizona requires specific language in every parenting plan. Under A.R.S. § 25-403.05(B) every plan must include a provision requiring both parents to immediately notify the other if a convicted or registered sex offender or a person convicted of a dangerous crime against children may have access to the child.

The most important thing about a parenting plan is specificity. Vague provisions produce ongoing disputes. A plan that says parents will communicate and cooperate does not tell anyone what to do when they cannot agree. A plan that specifies exactly what happens on each holiday, who picks up and who drops off, what the protocol is when a parent is late, and how disputes are resolved before they become court motions is a plan that actually works.

We have written and negotiated hundreds of parenting plans. We know what provisions create conflict and what provisions prevent it. Read examples before you draft one and do not leave any significant question unanswered. If your son played baseball during the marriage, insert that activity into the plan so the other party cannot create chaos after the divorce by failing to take his son to his baseball games. This happens quite frequently. So details matter and it is important to insert them now while everyone is getting along.