Since 2005, Texas law has required every custody order — temporary or final — to include a “parenting plan” (Texas Family Code Subchapter J, Chapter 153) that spells out each parent’s rights and duties, addresses how the parents will resolve future disputes, and aims to reduce the need for parents to keep returning to court.
What a parenting plan generally needs to cover
- Each parent’s rights and responsibilities toward the child
- A process (like mediation) for resolving future disputes without going back to court, except in emergencies
- How the plan will adapt as the child’s needs change with age
- Steps to minimize the child’s exposure to conflict between parents
Beyond the legal minimum, a thoughtful parenting plan can also address things like the schedule around school breaks and holidays, medical and dental decision-making, notification requirements for address or job changes, travel restrictions, extracurricular costs, and how disputes about specific topics (medical, educational, religious) get resolved — often by naming a tiebreaker, like a family doctor or pastor, in advance.
In high-conflict cases, courts can appoint a parenting coordinator — a neutral third party who helps parents implement the plan, though they can’t impose decisions or testify in court. This option generally isn’t used in cases involving family violence.
Parents who reach their own agreement are statistically much more likely to actually follow it than one imposed by a court — so it’s worth investing real effort here, ideally with an experienced family-law attorney, rather than treating the parenting plan as boilerplate.