How to Make a Parenting Plan in Wyoming

You have downloaded Wyoming's self-help divorce packet and found the section where you need to attach a parenting plan. The court form gives you blank space and almost no guidance on what to put there. That blank page is where most pro se parents stall — and where mistakes get baked into court orders that are difficult and expensive to change later.

What Wyoming Law Requires

Wyoming does not provide a rigid, fill-in-the-blank parenting plan template the way some states do. Under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201(d), the court requires custody orders to be drafted in "well-defined terms" that promote compliance and minimize future disputes. The statute does not prescribe a specific format, but it does expect your plan to address concrete operational areas — who makes which decisions, where the child lives on which days, and what happens when parents disagree.

Your parenting plan gets incorporated into the Decree of Divorce with Children (form DIVCP 23 in the court's self-help packets). Once the judge signs the decree, your plan becomes a binding court order. Violating it can result in contempt proceedings under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-203(b). This is why specificity matters: vague terms like "reasonable visitation" invite conflict, while precise schedules reduce your chances of ending up back in court.

Required Elements of a Wyoming Parenting Plan

Build your plan around these categories, each addressed with specific terms rather than general language:

Legal custody designation. State whether legal custody (the authority to make major decisions about education, healthcare, and religious upbringing) is joint or sole. If joint, specify how disagreements on major decisions will be resolved — does one parent have final say in specific domains, or must you mediate first?

Physical custody and residential schedule. Specify where the child lives during the school week, weekends, and the detailed daily schedule. Include exact transition times — "Friday at 6:00 p.m." is enforceable; "Friday evening" is not.

Holiday and special-day schedule. Create an alternating schedule for major holidays, school breaks, and each parent's birthday. Most Wyoming plans alternate holidays between odd and even years. Specify exact start and end times for each holiday period and state that the holiday schedule overrides the regular weekly schedule.

Summer break schedule. Define how summer is divided, when each parent's uninterrupted time begins and ends, and when the regular school-year schedule resumes. Include provisions for summer camps, travel, and advance notice requirements.

Exchange protocols. Designate specific locations for child exchanges — school, daycare, a public location, or a supervised exchange center if safety is a concern. Specify which parent is responsible for drop-off versus pick-up.

Transportation cost allocation. Under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-202(a)(ii), your plan must specify how transportation costs for visitation are divided between the parents. This matters especially when parents live in different cities.

Relocation notice. Under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-202(a)(iii), include a clause requiring 30 days' written notice to the other parent and the court before either parent moves to a different city or state.

Communication rules. Define how parents will communicate about the child — phone calls, text, email, or a co-parenting app like OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents. Set expectations for response times on non-emergency matters (24 to 48 hours is standard) and establish a separate protocol for emergencies.

Dispute resolution clause. Specify the steps you will follow before filing a motion with the court — typically private mediation first, then court intervention only if mediation fails. This clause is not optional in practice; most Wyoming district courts expect it and may send you back to add one if it is missing.

Choosing a Parenting Time Schedule

The schedule you propose should reflect your child's age, both parents' work schedules, the geographic distance between homes, and the level of parental cooperation. Common options in Wyoming:

Alternating weeks (7-on/7-off): Works well for school-age children and teenagers who benefit from longer blocks of uninterrupted time. Only one exchange per week, which reduces conflict opportunities. Poor fit for infants who cannot handle seven-day separations from either parent.

2-2-3 rotation: The child spends 2 days with Parent A, 2 days with Parent B, then 3 days with Parent A, rotating the next week. Prevents long separations, making it suitable for toddlers and preschoolers. Requires frequent mid-week exchanges and high coordination — struggles in high-conflict situations.

2-2-5-5 rotation: The child is always with Parent A on Monday-Tuesday, always with Parent B on Wednesday-Thursday, and alternates Friday-through-Sunday weekends. Provides predictable weekday routines for school-age children while splitting weekends equally. Requires parents to live close to each other and the school.

Alternating weekends with midweek evening: One parent has primary residential custody during the school week; the other parent has the child every other weekend plus one midweek dinner visit. Traditional arrangement that provides a stable home base for school. This is often the starting point when parents cannot agree on a more equal split.

If parents live far apart, a long-distance schedule concentrating the non-residential parent's time during summer and extended school breaks is the practical reality. Build in detailed travel arrangements, including who books flights, who pays, and what happens with unaccompanied-minor rules for air travel.

How to Submit Your Plan

Your completed parenting plan attaches to the Decree of Divorce with Children in the court's self-help packet. Both parents should sign the plan, indicating agreement. If you are filing an uncontested divorce, the plan goes to the judge along with the rest of your settlement paperwork.

For contested cases where you cannot agree on all terms, each parent can submit their own proposed parenting plan. The judge will review both proposals, may order mediation, and will ultimately issue a plan based on the statutory best-interest factors if the parents still cannot agree.

Before submitting, verify that every term in your plan is specific enough to enforce. A practical test: could a stranger read your plan and know exactly where the child should be at any given hour of the year? If the answer is no, tighten the language.

The Wyoming Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes a parenting plan worksheet that walks you through each required element with concrete examples drawn from Wyoming court expectations. Completing it before you transfer your terms to the official court forms helps catch gaps and inconsistencies that could delay your decree.

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