Prepare a custody and parenting time agreement

If you and your child’s other parent agree about child custody and parenting time of your children, you can have your agreement made a court order without having to go in front of a judge.

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Before you start

Before making an agreement, read about how child custody and parenting time works. You'll want to know things like:

What are the types of custody orders
What are the types of parenting time or visitation plans
What the judge looks at if you don’t agree to a parenting plan

It may also help you to try to come up with an agreement about child support at the same time, but you don’t have to. Your court’s Family Law Facilitator can explain child support and may be able to help you write up an agreement for both child support and custody and parenting time.

How to write up a custody and parenting time agreement

Decide on custody and parenting time

illustration of the concept of dialogue between two parties in a case to come to an agreement

Agree who will have legal custody or if you will share it (called “joint”)

Legal custody deals with who makes important decisions in your children’s lives, like education, health care, and more.

Agree who will have physical custody or if you will share it

Physical custody is who your children live with most of the time. If you share your children close to equal time, it can also be joint.

Agree how you will share parenting time

Parenting time, also called visitation, is the plan for how you will each share time with your children, including school days, weekends, holidays, vacations, and special occasions.

Write up the agreement

Illustration of someone typing a declaration at home on their computer

Children’s Holiday Schedule Attachment (form FL-341(C))

Your court’s Self-Help Center or Family Law Facilitator may be able to help you write up your agreement.

Take your agreement to get the judge’s signature and pay fee

members fo the public waiting in line to talk to the clerk

Where to bring the agreement to get a judge’s signature
How you get the signed agreement back
What your fee will be

It may take several days to get the signed copy back. You may be able to pick it up in person or have the court mail it to you.

What is the filing fee?

There is usually a fee to file an agreement. The fee is generally $20. If one of you hasn't paid their first filing fee ($435-450) that person may also need to pay this fee. If you can't afford the fee, you can ask for a fee waiver.

Pick up agreement and give a copy to your children’s other parent

illustration of hading papers to another person

Check it has a judge’s signature and stamp in the top corner saying it was filed.
Give your children’s other parent their copy of the signed and filed agreement for their records.

Once your agreement is filed, it’s a court order. This means you and your children’s other parent must follow the order.