Guide
The Cafcass parenting plan: a free UK template
A parenting plan is the ordinary week, written down: where the children are, how they get between homes, who books what, and how the two of you talk about it. Below you'll find what the Cafcass parenting plan covers, our free template to download, and tips for filling it in together. Most families can finish it in an evening.
General guidance for organising family life, not legal advice. A plan you write together is not legally binding. We are not connected with Cafcass.
What is the Cafcass parenting plan?
Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) publishes a free parenting plan for separated parents in England and Wales. It helps you agree arrangements for your children without going to court. It is a working agreement between parents, not a court order, and family mediators often start from a completed one.
What it covers
Living arrangements, handovers, holidays and special days, school, health, money, communication, and how you'll handle changes. Our template follows the same topics in nine short sections.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Cafcass covers England, and Cafcass Cymru covers Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems, but a written plan like this one is just as useful there.
The parenting plan template, section by section
Skip anything that does not apply. Where you cannot agree, write “not agreed yet” and move on — that list becomes your agenda for mediation.
1. The children
- Full name, date of birth and school or nursery for each child.
- Anything each household needs to know: allergies, medication, additional needs, comforters.
- Who the emergency contacts are, in what order.
2. Where the children live
- The regular weekly pattern, written out day by day (for example week-on/week-off, 2-2-3, alternating weekends).
- Which date the pattern starts from, so there is no ambiguity in week one.
- What happens in an inset day, a strike day or an unexpected school closure.
3. Handovers
- Day, time and place for each changeover, and who travels.
- How late is late, and who tells whom.
- What always travels with the child: uniform, kit, medication, homework, chargers, comfort items.
4. School holidays and special days
- How each holiday is divided: alternate years, split the break, or week-on/week-off through it.
- Christmas, birthdays, Eid, Diwali, Mother's Day and Father's Day — say it plainly for each one.
- How much notice a holiday abroad needs, and who holds the passports.
5. School and health
- Who attends parents' evenings, and how the other household gets the information.
- Who books routine medical and dental appointments, and how the other parent is told.
- Which decisions need both parents to agree before anything is booked.
6. Money
- What child maintenance is agreed, or that it is handled through the Child Maintenance Service.
- Who pays for uniform, trips, clubs, birthdays and Christmas.
- How a shared cost is agreed in advance, and how it is paid back.
7. Communication
- Where the schedule lives, so there is one source of truth.
- How much notice an ordinary swap needs, and a longer period for holidays.
- Reply window for routine requests, and what counts as an emergency.
- What each household keeps private, and what it shares.
8. New partners and wider family
- What a partner is told about logistics, and what stays between the parents.
- How grandparents and wider family time is arranged.
- How and when children are introduced to a new partner.
9. Review and disagreements
- The date you will read this again together.
- The step you will take before anything escalates — usually mediation.
- Anything you have not agreed yet, listed honestly, so it is not forgotten.
How to fill in a parenting plan together
- 1. Each of you drafts sections 2 to 4 separately first. Comparing two drafts is calmer than starting from a blank page together.
- 2. Agree the easy parts and write them down properly. Momentum matters more than finishing in order.
- 3. Park the hard parts in a short “not agreed yet” list rather than debating them the same evening.
- 4. Put the agreed pattern into a shared calendar straight away, so the plan describes what actually happens.
- 5. Diary a review date before you close the document.
Common questions
What is a parenting plan?
A written record of how two households will care for their children day to day: where the children live, when they move between homes, how holidays are shared, who pays for what, and how the adults will communicate. In England and Wales, CAFCASS publishes a parenting plan for exactly this purpose. It is a working agreement between parents, not a court order.
Is this the official Cafcass parenting plan?
No. Cafcass publishes its own parenting plan for families in England and Wales, and you can use that directly. Our free template covers the same everyday topics in a shorter, fill-in-the-blanks format. We are not connected with Cafcass.
Is a parenting plan legally binding in the UK?
No. A parenting plan is not legally binding on its own. It can still be very useful: many families never need anything more, and mediators and solicitors often start from a completed plan. If you need something enforceable, that is a consent order or child arrangements order made by a court, with legal advice.
Do we need a solicitor to write one?
Not to write one. Plenty of families fill in a plan together, or with a mediator in the room. Take legal advice if there are safeguarding concerns, if you cannot agree the basics, or before turning an agreement into a court order.
How often should we review the plan?
Once a year is a sensible rhythm, and the start of the school year is the easiest moment. Also review it when a child changes school, when work patterns change, or when either household moves.
What if we cannot agree on part of it?
Write down what you do agree, mark the rest as unresolved, and take just those points to family mediation. A plan that covers eighty per cent of ordinary weeks is far more useful than no plan at all.
General guidance for organising family life, not legal advice.
Ask other UK co-parents
A quiet forum where parents ask questions and share what worked across their two households — schedules, handovers, school and shared costs. Anyone can read it. To post, start your free trial; you can do so anonymously, and nothing from your family calendar is ever shared. It is not legal advice.
Read the parent forumTurn the plan into a calendar both homes can see
Co-Parenting Harmony holds the agreed pattern, handover reminders, holiday splits and shared costs in one place, with private events that only ever show as “Busy”. Free 14-day trial, no card needed.
No card needed. Private events are only ever shown to others as “Busy”.