5 Ways to Create a Parenting Plan That Works for Both Parents

Sunday night, and the texts are flying again. Who has the kids on Wednesday? Who’s picking up from soccer? Did last weekend count?. A parenting plan was supposed to settle this, but the one written six months ago never matched the way life actually moves.

A 2025 study in Child & Youth Care Forum found that 79.8 percent of children in joint physical custody reported good mental health, compared to 67.9 percent in sole custody. The arrangement matters, but so does the plan that holds it together.

A workable parenting plan protects the child’s best interest, gives both parents a clear schedule, and removes the friction that grinds families down month after month.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• How to start with your child’s best interest, not a calendar battle
• The pieces of a parenting time schedule that actually hold up
• How to handle legal custody, decision-making authority, and health care
• The role of clear co-parenting rules in keeping the plan working

1. Start With Your Child’s Best Interest

A parenting plan is not a settlement between two adults. It is a blueprint for a child’s life across two households, and the strongest plans start with what serves the child first.

According to Clio’s 2026 family law statistics, 90% of custody cases are resolved without a court trial. That is the result of parents working out the details of a parenting plan together, rather than asking a judge to make every call for them.

What Best Interest Looks Like in a Parenting Plan

A child’s best interest is rarely a single factor. It is a layered picture that includes the parent-child relationships. It also includes the child’s daily routines, school stability, friendships, extracurricular activities, and the child’s well-being across both homes.

Utah courts weigh these factors when a judge considers any contested custody and visitation issue. Drafting the plan with the same framework keeps the document aligned with what a court would approve.

Reaching an Agreement Before You Let the Court Decide

The plans that hold up over time are the ones both parents helped build. Sitting down with the other parent, before lawyers and judges get involved, is a good start. This often produces a parenting plan that fits real life rather than a court template.

This approach also keeps the parent-child relationship at the center, where it belongs. When parents reach a custody agreement on the basics, the family law case spends far less time in court. Each parent of the child can focus on what matters most.

2. Build a Parenting Time Schedule That Fits Real Life

A parenting time schedule needs to match the rhythm of a real family week, not an idealized one. The strongest plans cover regular weeks, holidays, school breaks, and the inevitable schedule changes that come with raising children.

A clear written schedule prevents the Sunday-night text battles and gives both parents and the child a predictable rhythm to count on.

Weekly Routines, School, and Time With One Parent or the Other

A weekly parenting time schedule should spell out exactly when the child is with one parent or the other. Common elements to cover:

• Regular weekday and weekend parenting time, including overnights
• School drop-off and pick-up responsibilities for each day of the week
• Extracurricular activities and who handles transportation and attendance
• Child care arrangements before and after school, and on no-school days
• Specific start and end times for scheduled parenting time, not just dates
• How long-distance travel or work trips are handled when one parent is unavailable

Spelling these details out in writing prevents small disputes from piling up into bigger ones.

Holidays, Special Days, and School Breaks

Holidays are where the strongest parenting plans show their value. A holiday schedule should include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other holidays the family considers important. School breaks and summer schedules need their own clear structure, too.

Special days like birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and school events deserve specific provisions. Most families alternate major holidays year to year, with both parents getting equal scheduled parenting time over the long run.

3. Define Legal Custody and Major Decisions in a Child Custody Order

Legal custody is about who makes the major decisions in a child’s life. Physical custody is about where the child lives. A clear child custody order spells out both, and the parenting plan should mirror that order in plain language that both parents understand.

When these decisions are vague, day-to-day life becomes a series of small power struggles that wear families down.

Legal Custody vs Physical Custody in Utah

Utah courts treat legal custody and physical custody as separate questions. Legal custody covers major decisions about the child’s education, health care, religion, and welfare. Physical custody covers where the child lives and how parenting time is divided.

Joint legal custody is common in Utah, even when physical custody is not split evenly. Each parent has decision-making authority on the major decisions, regardless of which home the child is in on any given day.

Decision-Making Authority for Health Care and Education

Decision-making authority should be defined in the parenting plan, not left for parents to argue about later. The plan should describe how major decisions get made, what counts as a major decision, and what happens when parents disagree.

Health care and education are the two biggest areas. The plan should address routine and major medical care, mental health care, and school choice. It should also address special needs and the role each parent plays in day-to-day decisions versus major ones.

4. Set Clear Communication and Co-Parenting Rules

Communication between co-parents is where most parenting plans live or die. The strongest plans set ground rules for how, when, and through what channels parents communicate. Clear communication is especially important during high-stress moments.

A clear set of rules removes the guesswork and lowers the temperature of every difficult conversation.

Day-to-Day Decisions and Communication With the Other Parent

The parenting plan should define how the other parent gets notified about day-to-day decisions and routine updates. Set expectations for response times on non-urgent matters. Choose a co-parenting app or text thread, and agree on how to handle emergencies.

Communication should also include how parents discuss the child rather than each other, especially when safety concerns or post-divorce tensions surface. Keeping conversations focused on the child’s needs protects the parent-child relationship on both sides.

Video Calls, Updates, and Information Sharing

A modern parenting plan should address video calls, photo updates, and shared digital calendars. These tools give the non-residential parent meaningful contact with the child during the other parent’s time. This is important when one parent has limited scheduled parenting time.

The plan should clearly describe expectations: how often video calls occur, how school events are shared, and how each parent receives updates on the child’s well-being. Clear information prevents the slow drift that turns small misunderstandings into larger conflicts.

5. Address Child Support, Child Care, and Financial Responsibilities

Money is one of the most common triggers for parenting plan disputes. A clear plan addresses child support, custody, and visitation costs, as well as shared expenses for child care, medical care, and extracurricular activities.

When the financial pieces are spelled out, parents fight less, and the child’s daily life stays stable.

Child Support, Custody, and Visitation Costs

Child support in Utah is calculated using a state formula that considers both parents’ income, the parenting time schedule, and the number of children. The parenting plan should reference the child support order without restating it.

Custody and visitation costs go beyond the monthly child support payment. Travel costs for parenting time, transportation between homes, and exchanges should be addressed in the plan. The plan should also describe how unexpected costs are handled when only one parent is present.

Child Care, Medical Care, and Extracurricular Activities

Child care expenses, medical care not covered by insurance, and extracurricular activities all need clear rules. The plan should describe how each category is paid, what counts as a shared expense, and how reimbursements are handled between parents.

A simple shared-expense system prevents disputes from piling up. The table below shows a sample breakdown of common financial responsibilities under a parenting plan.

Child-Related Expenses: Shared vs. Individual Responsibility

Expense	Shared Between Parents	Paid by One Parent
Monthly child support	Set by court order	Paid by the obligor parent
Child care (work-related)	Split per court order	Day-of expenses covered by parent on duty
Medical care (uncovered)	Split per agreed percentage	Routine co-pays by the parent at the appointment
Extracurricular activities	Split for agreed-upon programs	Optional add-ons paid by the enrolling parent
School supplies and clothing	Split for major items	Day-to-day clothing by the parent at home
Travel for parenting time	Per agreement or court order	Local transportation by the parent on duty

A clear table like this in the parenting plan prevents small disagreements from growing into family law case disputes. Parents who file a clean plan spend time on their child rather than on conflict.

Why a Parenting Plan Form Drafted With a Family Law Attorney Matters

A parenting plan for custody is a legal document that will shape a child’s life for years. A family law attorney makes sure the plan covers what Utah courts will approve. They anticipate the disputes that haven’t happened yet, and use a parenting plan form that holds up in court.

A skilled Utah family law attorney brings to a parenting plan:

• Detailed knowledge of Utah custody and visitation law and how a judge considers each factor
• A complete parenting plan checklist tailored to the family’s needs and schedule
• Provisions that anticipate future changes, like a parent moving or one parent’s work schedule shifting
• Clear language on legal custody, physical custody, and decision-making authority that holds up if the case returns to court
• Built-in mechanisms for handling disputes about child care, health care, extracurricular activities, and shared responsibility for major expenses
• Honest counsel on what a judge would likely approve versus what creates risk later

Utah parents drafting a parenting plan for custody should have a document that protects the child’s best interests and works in everyday life.

Build a Parenting Plan for Custody That Holds Up at Home and in Court

A parenting plan is only as strong as its details. The plans that survive the years are those built around the child’s best interests. They are the plans written with both parents in mind, and drafted with the legal precision Utah courts expect.

At Henriksen Law, we work with Utah parents to build parenting plans that fit real life and protect the parent-child relationship. Our attorneys draft custody and visitation provisions that anticipate the disputes most parenting plans miss, from holiday conflicts to long-distance travel.

If you are starting a custody case or want to revisit a parenting plan that no longer fits your family, contact us today for a confidential consultation. The right plan, built early, saves you and your child years of friction later.