How to Write a Parenting Plan in Arkansas: Requirements and Checklist

Arkansas circuit judges reject parenting plans that are vague, incomplete, or leave room for future disputes. A plan that says "parents will share custody" without specifying which days, what happens on holidays, or how decisions are made will be sent back for revision — or worse, replaced by the court's own arrangement. The more detailed and specific your plan, the more likely the judge will approve it and the less likely you will end up back in court fighting over ambiguities.

Here is what Arkansas courts require and what separates an approvable parenting plan from one that gets rejected.

Legal and Physical Custody Designation

Your plan must explicitly state whether legal custody and physical custody are joint or sole.

Legal custody covers major decision-making authority: healthcare (selecting doctors, consenting to treatment), education (school enrollment, special education decisions), and religious upbringing. Joint legal custody means both parents must agree before making major decisions. Sole legal custody gives one parent unilateral authority.

Physical custody determines where the child lives. Joint physical custody does not require an exact 50/50 split but means both parents maintain meaningful residential time. Sole physical custody designates one parent as the primary residence, with the other receiving scheduled parenting time.

Under Act 604, Arkansas courts presume joint custody is best. If your plan proposes sole custody, it must explain why — backed by evidence the joint arrangement would not serve the child's best interest.

Residential Schedule

The weekly residential schedule is the backbone of your plan. It must specify:

• Which days and nights the child spends with each parent during the school year
• The exact transition times (for example, "Friday at 3:15 PM school release" rather than "Friday afternoon")
• Whether the schedule changes during summer, school holidays, and teacher workdays
• How the schedule adjusts when school is not in session

Common schedule formats used in Arkansas include the week-on/week-off rotation (182 overnights each), the 2-2-3 rotation (182 overnights, more frequent transitions), and the alternating weekends with midweek overnight arrangement (roughly 130-150 overnights for the non-primary parent).

Holiday and Vacation Rotation

Holiday schedules override the regular weekly rotation. Your plan must address each major holiday with specific dates and times:

• Thanksgiving — typically Wednesday after school through Sunday evening, alternating years
• Christmas — usually split into two blocks (Christmas Eve through Christmas morning, then Christmas Day through the end of break), alternating which parent gets each block
• Spring break — alternating years
• Easter weekend — if separate from spring break
• Mother's Day and Father's Day — each parent gets the child on their respective holiday regardless of the regular schedule
• Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day — alternating years
• Child's birthday — specific provisions for shared or alternating celebrations
• Each parent's birthday — optional but reduces future disputes

Summer vacation needs its own section: how many weeks each parent gets, whether the time is consecutive or split into blocks, and how the regular schedule is modified during summer.

Transportation and Exchange Logistics

Judges need to see that you have worked out the practical details:

• Who drives — which parent is responsible for pickup and drop-off
• Where exchanges happen — the parents' residences, a neutral public location (school, library, police station), or school transitions
• How costs are shared — especially if parents live far apart
• School-site restrictions — Arkansas law restricts parents from conducting custody exchanges at school in a disruptive manner, requiring administrative permission for school-site transfers

If the parents live more than 30 minutes apart, the plan should address who bears the burden of driving time and whether that responsibility alternates.

Communication Rules

Spell out how the child communicates with the other parent during each parent's custodial time:

• Phone, video call, or text access — including designated calling hours
• Whether a co-parenting app (OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents) will be used for parent-to-parent communication
• Rules about social media posts involving the child
• How emergency notifications are handled

Also address parent-to-parent communication: preferred method (app, email, text), expected response times, and any restrictions (for example, no contact between 10 PM and 7 AM except for emergencies).

Dispute Resolution

Your plan must include a mechanism for resolving disagreements before going back to court. The standard approach is a mediation-first clause: parents agree to attempt mediation before filing any motion to modify or enforce the plan. This is consistent with Arkansas courts' strong preference for keeping custody disputes out of the courtroom.

Some plans include escalation tiers: informal discussion first, then mediation, then court as a last resort. Others designate a tiebreaker parent for specific categories of decisions (one parent decides education issues, the other decides healthcare).

Additional Provisions to Consider

Right of first refusal — If the custodial parent cannot care for the child during their time (work trip, illness), the other parent gets first option before a babysitter or relative is called. Specify the minimum time threshold (for example, applies when the parent will be absent for 4+ hours).

Relocation notice — Under § 9-13-101(h), a parent moving out of state or a substantial distance must provide 60 days' written notice. Your plan can reinforce this requirement and specify what happens to the schedule if a move occurs.

Parenting class requirements — Document that both parents have completed the mandatory co-parenting education course under § 9-12-322.

Introducing new partners — Some plans include provisions about when and how new romantic partners are introduced to the child.

Extracurricular activities — How decisions about enrollment, scheduling, and costs are handled, especially when activities conflict with the other parent's scheduled time.

Putting It Together

The Arkansas Child Custody and Parenting Plan Guide provides a section-by-section framework for building a complete parenting plan, including county-specific schedule comparisons for Benton and Washington counties, a holiday rotation planner, and the AO10 child support worksheet — everything you need to draft a plan that a judge will approve on first submission.

See more Arkansas guides →