A parenting plan is a written agreement about parenting arrangements. It describes each parent’s parenting time with and decision-making authority for a child.
Parents can work together or get help from a professional to create a parenting plan. A parenting plan must be in the best interests of the child, not of the parents.
If you cannot work together to create a parenting plan, the court can make one and include it in a parenting order.
Need to know
- A parenting plan sets out the parenting time and decision-making authority for your child.
- A parenting plan must be in writing, either as its own document or as part of a separation agreement.
- You can make a parenting plan by working together or with the help of a professional without going to court.
- You can ask the court to include or summarize a parenting plan in a parenting consent order.
- A parenting plan must be in the best interests of your child, not what you want.
Get started
Learn the basics about who are a child’s parents and guardians before you make a co-parenting plan.
Then, there are a few other things you should know before you make your plan.
Parenting plan versus parenting order
A parenting plan is a written agreement about parenting arrangements. You can make one without going to court, either by working together or by getting help from a professional. If one parent does not follow the plan, the other parent can take steps to enforce it.
A parenting order is a court order about parenting arrangements. You can ask the court to approve a parenting consent order that includes or summarizes the parenting plan you have already agreed to. If you and the other parent cannot work together, the court can make a parenting order based on the evidence you each provide.
Types of parenting arrangements
Parenting arrangements describe how much time a child spends with each parent. There are four common arrangements: primary, shared, split and sole. Learn more about each type on the Being a parent or guardian page.
Learn how to co-parent after separation
Parenting After Separation (PAS) is a free online course created by the Government of Alberta to help parents learn how to communicate with each other after a separation. The court encourages every parent to take it even if the court does not order it.
Once you have completed PAS, you can take a second course called Parenting After Separation for Families in High Conflict.
The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative has a free Brain Story course that parents and professionals can take to better understand a child’s brain and trauma. It also shares how a parent’s behaviours and decisions impact their children.
Figure out how you will make the parenting plan
Making a parenting plan takes time and effort from both parents. You must think about what is best for your child as well as each parent’s living situation and work schedule to craft the best parenting plan for your family.
The first step is to figure out how you will make the parenting plan.
A do-it-yourself plan may work if you and the other parent communicate well with each other. You may choose to sit down together for an afternoon or over several days to create a parenting plan. Pick a time (or times) when you can focus on the task without distractions and interruptions.
Getting help from a professional may be a good choice if:
- you and the other parent do not communicate well or agree on what is best for your children
- you and the other parent started to make a parenting plan but communication broke down before you could finish
Learn more about professionals who can help on the Ways to resolve disputes page.
Tools to help you make your own parenting plan
Parenting Plan Guide has practical insights about the needs of children with parents living apart. It was created by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Alberta chapter. Read it before using the template below.
Parenting Plan Template has clauses you can use or adapt to create your own parenting plan. It was created by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Alberta chapter. Use it after reading the guide above.
Parenting Plan Tool has suggested clauses for you to choose and adapt to reflect your children’s needs and make your own plan. It was created by the Government of Canada.
Make the plan
A parenting plan should include the following:
- with whom and where your child will live
- when each of you will have parenting time
- how exchanges of your child between each of your parenting times will occur
- how you will make major decisions for your child, known as decision-making authority
- what to do if one of you wants to travel with your child
- what to do if one of you wants to move, with or without your child
- how you will communicate with each other
- how you will resolve disputes if they come up, such as by getting help from a parenting expert
- what extra-curricular activities your child will participate in and how they will work with each parent’s parenting time
- what happens if one of you wants to change the parenting plan
Important questions to think about
Think about what parenting plan makes the most sense given your work schedules.
- Do either of you work shift work or travel for work?
- How will your child get to and from school or extracurricular activities?
Some parents can easily co-parent with each other while other parents need boundaries about how often and in what ways they communicate with each other.
- How will you communicate with each other?
- Will you use a parenting app, text or email to share information with each other?
- Will you get help from a parenting expert, such as a parenting coordinator, when you can’t agree on something?
If there has been family violence, it is usually better if the parents do not have much contact with each other to make sure everyone feels safe.
Think about your child’s routines and home life before the separation. And consider how changes in their routine might affect them.
- Did one of you stay home to raise your child while the other worked?
- Was one of you more engaged in your child’s upbringing, decision-making, medical appointments and care?
- Or did you equally share parenting responsibilities and caring for your child?
Think about how your child’s situation since the separation is or is not working for them.
- Are they thriving where they are?
- Should something change for your child’s sake?
Think about your child’s age and development. Should you consider what they want? How will the plan need to change as your child grows older and can make more decisions for themselves?
Think about what childcare options are available and what you are comfortable with.
- Will a family member, one parent’s new partner, a registered day home or daycare, a live-in caregiver or a private babysitter provide care?
- What will each option cost? Who will pay?
- How will each of you get your child to and from childcare during your parenting time?
Apps to help co-parents communicate
CoParenter gives families access to online mediation and coaching, healthcare-related safety plans, parenting plans, holiday and vacation schedules, agreements, education and support. They offer a free 30-day period to try the app.
Our Family Wizard helps parents manage schedules, track expenses, share files, send messages, make secured calls and more. They offer a 30-day period to try the app with a money-back guarantee.
Put the plan in writing
A good plan is easy to understand and lets everyone know what they are responsible for.
After you come up with a plan, it is very important to make a written agreement. A parenting plan can be part of a separation agreement or it can be an agreement about parenting only.
If you are making the plan together, one of you should type it up and both of you should sign and date it, along with at least one witness. If a professional is helping you, they may prepare the agreement as part of their services.
The parenting plan may need to change over time. You may want to include a paragraph in the parenting plan that says you can make changes to the plan in writing, if you both agree. Including this in the parenting plan gives parents who co-parent well together the ability to respond quickly to new circumstances.
If you cannot agree on your child attending counselling
One of you may want your child to attend counselling, for example, to help them process your separation. However, counselling can be a point of disagreement for parents. Unless a court order says otherwise, both parents must consent to their child attending counselling.
Learn more by downloading CPLEA’s PDF titled Get consent for a child to attend counselling.
Decide if you need a consent order
If you and the other parent co-parent and communicate well with each other, you may not need to turn the plan into a court order. Your written and signed agreement may be enough.
You can include or summarize your parenting plan in a parenting consent order and ask the court to approve it. Turning the plan into a consent order is a good idea if one of you stops following the plan or if you do not work well together.
Once you have a parenting consent order, a parent can take steps to enforce it if the other parent is not following it.
Update the parenting plan as need be
Parenting plans will often need to change over the years. Except for sole parenting, it is usually impossible to plan for all stages of a child’s life in one parenting plan.
As your child grows up, their needs change. They become more independent and develop stronger opinions and connections to their environment and the people in it. The parenting plan should change to fit the current situation.
Your parenting plan should say how you update it. Follow that process.
If you turned the plan into a parenting consent order, you should get an updated order that incorporates the updated plan.
Potential issues
You and the other parent cannot agree on a parenting schedule.
You may need to get help from a professional or ask the court to make a parenting order.
You and the other parent cannot agree on doing what your child wants.
Learn how to resolve disputes between you and the other parent without going to court.
The parenting plan needs to change as it no longer suits your family.
You and the other parent can agree to change the plan, or you may need to ask the court to make or change a parenting order.
One parent wants the other parent to have supervised parenting time.
You can ask the court for a supervised parenting order if you believe it is in your child’s best interests to do so.