Maryland Parenting Plans: How to Develop a Comprehensive Plan

When parents separate or become involved in a Maryland custody case, one of the most important documents they may be asked to prepare is a parenting plan. A well-written parenting plan can provide parents with a clear roadmap for raising their children after separation and can reduce the need to return to court every time a disagreement arises.

What Is a Parenting Plan?

A parenting plan is a written document that explains how parents or other parties will care for and make decisions about their children. It addresses both parenting time—when the children will be with each parent—and decision-making authority, sometimes referred to as legal custody.

A parenting plan may be used to establish an initial arrangement or to modify an existing arrangement.

Importantly, a parenting plan is not simply a visitation calendar. A comprehensive plan should address the many practical decisions parents will face as their children grow.

The Maryland Judiciary has created a Maryland Parenting Plan Tool (CC-DR-109) to help parents develop a comprehensive plan addressing parenting time, decision-making, transportation, communication, childcare, holidays, vacations, and other issues that commonly arise when parents are no longer living together. The Judiciary also provides Maryland Parenting Plan Instructions (CC-DRIN-109) to guide parents through the process. This form is required if you are requesting an initial custody determination in Maryland or a modification of an existing custody order. However, if you are working with an attorney, they may will have their own parenting plan outlines that can be developed and expanded to meet the needs of your family/children.

Developing a comprehensive Parenting Plan can be daunting. Below are some special considerations parents should consider when reviewing or completing the Maryland Parenting Plan Tool.

Address Decision-Making Authority

The first substantive section of the Parenting Plan Tool concerns decision-making authority.

Day-to-day decisions generally belong to the parent who has the children at the time. Major decisions, however, may require a specific agreement between the parents. The form identifies issues including:

• Medical care;
• Mental health care;
• Education;
• Religious training;
• Extracurricular activities;
• Communication between the parents; and
• Sharing information concerning the children.

The form provides several options for decision-making.

Parents may agree to shared parental responsibility, meaning that they jointly make major decisions and the decisions must be mutual. They may instead agree to sole parenting responsibility, giving one parent authority to make major decisions. Another option is shared responsibility with specified tie-breaking authority if the parents cannot reach an agreement. When one parent has tie-breaking authority, the parties must first have discussions and try to reach a mutual decision with regard to the topic. If they are unable to do so after good faith discussions, then the parent with tie-breaking authority has the right to make the decision and it will be binding on both parties.

It is important to think about this portion carefully. The last thing any parent wants is for there to be a significant delay when a decision needs to be made. If co-parents have historically been able to make joint decisions together and share similar ideas on how decisions should be handled, joint decision-making works. If the parents cannot communicate at all or have vastly different beliefs on how certain issues could be handled, that would make joint decision making difficult. Tie-breaking allows for communication between the parties, while not allowing a delay if a

Information Sharing and Communication Between the Parents

The Parenting Plan Tool recognizes that effective co-parenting requires parents to exchange information.

Parents should also establish a practical method for communicating with one another that works for their family. Co-parenting apps, such as Our Family Wizard, can be very helpful for keeping all communications relating to the children in one place and also allows parents to update calendars for events and exchange other information. That is not necessary in all cases, but if there are communication difficulties, parenting apps can be a good way to help resolve those.

Another consideration is timing of responses. If one parent reaches out to the other parent regarding an issue, how long does the other parent have to respond? Note: once parents are separated, short response times are typically not reasonable. Usually, a 24-48 hour window for a substantive response is reasonable. Of course, if there is an emergency issue or someone is going to be late to an exchange, that is something that the parents should call one another or text about so that the information can be exchanged as quickly as possible.

Create a Specific Parenting-Time Schedule

The parenting-time section is often the portion parents think of first when they hear the term “parenting plan.”

The Maryland form allows parents to establish a regular weekday and weekend schedule. It permits parents to specify particular weekdays, weekends, beginning and ending times, and other arrangements. The form also permits parents to attach a calendar and to create different schedules for different children when appropriate. The key is specificity.

Compare:

“Father will have reasonable visitation” with “Father will have parenting time every other weekend beginning Wednesday after school/camp, or 5:00p.m. if there is no school or camp through Monday morning drop-off at school/camp, or 9:00a.m. if there is no school/camp. Father shall also have every other Wednesday, on the week he does not have other access, from after school/camp, or 5:00p.m. if there is no school/camp through Thursday morning drop-off at school/camp, or 9:00a.m. if there is no school/camp.”

The second provision leaves substantially less room for disagreement. Parents can certainly deviate from their court-ordered schedule, if they both agree to do so, but having the set schedule holds everyone accountable to at least that schedule and ensures stability for the children.

Parents should consider school schedules, work schedules, extracurricular activities, transportation time, the children’s ages, and the practical distance between the parents’ homes when developing the schedule.

Do Not Forget Holidays/School Breaks/Summer Vacations

Deviations from the normal schedule, such as holidays, school breaks, and summer vacations are areas most parents do not consider “as important” but can lead to significant disagreements. Even if parents are agreeing on holiday/vacations schedules at the time the parenting plan is being developed, it is important to have default provisions in the event a future disagreement arises.

This is an area where detail matters. For example, “Thanksgiving will alternate” is less precise than identifying exactly when Thanksgiving parenting time begins and ends. Again, parents are free to deviate from their parenting plan if they both agree, but having something to fall back on is important to avoid conflict and disruption in the children’s schedules.

For winter break, it is important to consider when the break will start/end, as school does not let out on a specific day. Putting in something like, “Winter break shall be defined as 9:00a.m. the day immediately following when school lets out for break through 6:00p.m. the day before school resumes after break” will save parents a lot of back and forth over when the break starts/ends based on the school calendar. If you are dividing the break equally, it is important to consider how rotating the first half and second half will look, as the number of days are not always equal and if the intention is to include holidays in the break, they may not fall correctly if the time is divided equally.

For summer break, parents should consider defining what the vacation time will be, such as 1 or 2 weeks of vacation, which may or may not be consecutive. Another prudent thing to put in the terms is when the week shall be – does it always have to start on a Friday? – and if there are any parameters around including that parent’s regular weekend? Language like “Each party may take 2 weeks of summer vacation with the minor children, which may not be consecutive. Each parent’s week shall start on Friday and must include their regular weekend access.” The additional language helps avoid conflicts over one parent having the children for multiple weekends in a row because they took vacation time over another parent’s weekend. Again, schedules can always be adjusted if agreed to by the parties, but having the default provision avoids an impasse.

Establish a Method for Resolving Disputes

No parenting plan can predict every future disagreement. The Maryland Parenting Plan Tool includes a section addressing disputes. Parents can agree to attend mediation before asking the court to intervene or establish another method for resolving disagreements.

A dispute-resolution provision can be one of the most valuable parts of a parenting plan because it establishes a process for dealing with future problems before those problems become litigation.

What Happens If Parents Cannot Agree?

Parents do not have to reach agreement on every provision.

If the parties cannot agree on a comprehensive parenting plan, the Maryland Judiciary provides a separate form: Joint Statement of the Parties Concerning Decision-Making Authority and Parenting Time (CC-DR-110). The form allows the court to understand where the parties agree, where they disagree, and what each party believes is in the children’s best interests.

In other words, disagreement does not mean the parenting-plan process ends. Instead, the unresolved issues become matters for the court to address.

Final Thoughts

A parenting plan is much more than a visitation schedule. It is a roadmap for how parents will make decisions, communicate, share parenting time, handle holidays and vacations, exchange the children, arrange childcare, and resolve disagreements.

The most effective parenting plans are not necessarily the longest ones. They are the ones that are clear, specific, realistic, and focused on the children’s needs. Parents who take the time to address potential areas of conflict before they become disputes may be able to reduce future conflict—and provide their children with the consistency and predictability they need.