Introducing Our Comprehensive Parenting Plan Worksheet
The Comprehensive Parenting Plan Worksheet is a tool that can greatly assist you in developing your Parenting Plan. We understand that every family is unique and not everything may be relevant to your family or at this stage in your separation. That’s why our worksheet is designed to be flexible and adaptable to your specific needs.
What is a Parenting Plan?
A Parenting Plan is a written, signed, and dated agreement about the care and welfare of a child made by their parents or others who have parental responsibility.
It’s important to note that a parenting plan must be made free from any threat, duress, or coercion. Other people, such as caregivers, can be part of a plan if appropriate, but it is only a parenting plan if all people with parental responsibility have signed the plan.
Parenting Plans and Parenting Orders
Your Parenting Plan can replace the terms of a Parenting Court Order unless your court order says it can only be modified by another order. The most recent Parenting Plan must be considered by a Family Court Judge if it is in the best interest of your child to do so.
Review of your Plan
Parenting Plans are intended to be reviewed and updated as your child grows or their parents’ situation changes. It is normal that parenting plans are reviewed and updated regularly.
You can include a clause about regular review meetings in your plan and we provide some guidance about how frequently that may happen based on the age of your child.
Disagreements
Sometimes, parents disagree about what your court orders or Parenting Plan means, or you can’t reach an agreement when you attempt to review your Parenting Plan.
Your parenting plan should have a clause about how you will try to reach an agreement. This usually means that if an agreement isn’t reached, you will return to Family Dispute Resolution, where the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner will help you to discuss the issues in dispute and try to reach an agreement.
Download Our Worksheet
Our worksheet is comprehensive but may not cover all the parenting arrangements your family needs.
Because it has legal standing, we encourage you to seek independent legal advice before signing a Parenting Plan for the first time or making major changes to your child’s living and spending time arrangements.
The worksheet includes sections on parental time with the child(ren), changeovers, schedule of regular extra-curricular activities, maintenance and expenses, supervision of the child(ren), childcare, other relationships, school/day-care, schedule for school holidays, special days, safety rules, religious upbringing, cultural heritage, parental behaviour and child development, communication, medical, special other, dispute resolution, review, and declaration and signatures.
Download our Parenting Plan Worksheet here.
We hope this worksheet will be valuable in your journey towards creating a comprehensive and effective Parenting Plan. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.