What should we put in our California parenting plan?

What the law says

The courts’ self-help custody guide: “Parenting plans have orders about child custody and visitation, also called parenting time.” It adds: “Parenting plans must be in the best interest of your children.”

Family Code section 3048(a) says every custody or visitation order “shall contain” several items, including “A clear description of the custody and visitation rights of each party.” The others are the basis for the court’s jurisdiction, how notice was given, a warning that violating the order may bring civil or criminal penalties, and the child’s country of habitual residence. Section 3040(e) allows “the court and the family the widest discretion to choose a parenting plan that is in the best interest of the child.”

• California Courts self-help: child custody and parenting time
• Family Code section 3048 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 3040 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)

A sample outline (not a form)

This outline follows the items on the Judicial Council custody attachments; skip what does not apply.

1. Legal custody: joint or sole, and if joint, which decisions need both parents’ consent (form FL-341(E) lists school, counseling, activities, doctors, religion, and travel).

2. Regular schedule: which weekends and weekdays, start and end times, and the date each part begins (form FL-311, item 4).

3. Holidays, school breaks, and birthdays, by even and odd years (form FL-341(C), which notes that unless specifically ordered, the holiday schedule has priority over regular parenting time).

4. Exchanges: who drives, and where each exchange happens (FL-311, item 7).

5. Travel: whether written permission or a court order is needed to take the children out of California or certain counties (FL-311, item 8).

6. Calls and video visits: scheduled phone or virtual contact (FL-311, item 4b; form FL-341(D), item 6).

7. Everyday rules: notice of address changes and planned moves, child care and the first option to care for the children, canceled visits, and no negative comments (FL-341(D)).

8. Safety terms, if needed: supervised visits (FL-311, item 6) or child abduction prevention orders (form FL-312, through FL-311 item 9).

• Form FL-311, Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Time) Application Attachment, Rev. January 1, 2026 (PDF)
• Form FL-341(C), Children’s Holiday Schedule Attachment, Rev. July 1, 2016 (PDF)
• Form FL-341(D), Additional Provisions, Physical Custody Attachment, Rev. July 1, 2016 (PDF)
• Form FL-341(E), Joint Legal Custody Attachment, Rev. July 1, 2016 (PDF)

What to do next

If you and the other parent agree, you can write the plan up as a stipulation, such as form FL-355, and ask a judge to sign it as an order; the form warns that if there are allegations or findings of abuse, the judge may not enter an order based on a stipulation until you have a hearing. If you do not agree, attach your proposed plan to your Request for Order or petition on FL-311 and the FL-341 attachments; the self-help guide says you will go to mediation or child custody recommending counseling before the judge decides.

• Form FL-355, Stipulation and Order for Custody and/or Visitation (Parenting Time), Rev. July 1, 2026 (PDF)
• California Courts self-help: ask for or change a custody and visitation order
• California Courts self-help: resources to develop a parenting plan
• Free custody schedule builder
• Can we change our custody agreement without going to court?