How to Prepare a Quebec Parenting Plan Without a Lawyer
You can prepare a complete, court-ready parenting plan in Quebec without hiring a lawyer. The process has five concrete steps: identify which legal framework governs your family, build a weekly parenting schedule with annual night counts, calculate child support using Quebec's Form 104 model, draft decision-making and communication protocols, and file the plan through mediation or directly with the court. An amicable court route typically takes 3-6 months to resolve; structured planning tools help you prepare before using the subsidized mediation hours.
The key is doing the organizational work — the schedule math, support calculations, and clause drafting — before you sit down at the mediation table. Parents who arrive at mediation with a written proposal resolve their cases faster and more cheaply than those who use their free hours figuring out basic logistics.
Step 1: Determine Your Legal Framework
This step trips up more Quebec parents than any other. Quebec operates under two concurrent family law systems, and which one applies to you determines your terminology, your court, and your property division obligations.
If you're married: The federal Divorce Act governs your custody arrangement. You'll use the terms "parenting time" (where the child lives) and "decision-making responsibility" (who makes major decisions). You file in Superior Court, and your property division includes the mandatory family patrimony (the net value of the residence, furniture, vehicles, and retirement plans divided equally) plus your matrimonial regime.
If you're unmarried: The Civil Code of Québec governs your arrangement. You'll use "custody" (garde) and "parental authority" (autorité parentale). If you're an unmarried cohabiting parent whose child was born or adopted on or after June 30, 2025, the new parental union regime under Bill 56 automatically subjects the net value of your family residence, furniture, and vehicles to equal partition — but not retirement plans or RRSPs by default. You can opt out only through a notarized deed.
Using the wrong terminology doesn't invalidate your plan, but it signals to a judge or mediator that you don't understand the framework — and that can undermine confidence in your proposal.
Step 2: Build Your Parenting Schedule
A parenting plan isn't a vague agreement about "sharing time." It's a specific weekly rotation mapped to annual night counts, because Quebec's child support model treats custody arrangements differently based on how many nights each parent has the child.
The 146-night threshold matters. When each parent has between 146 and 219 nights annually (40-60% of the year), Quebec classifies the arrangement as shared custody, and the child support calculation uses a different formula. A parent at 145 nights (sole custody with prolonged access) pays or receives a substantially different support amount than a parent at 147 nights (shared custody). This isn't academic — it can shift the monthly obligation by hundreds of dollars.
Build your schedule by:
- Map your proposed weekly rotation — which days and nights the child spends with each parent during a typical school week and weekend
- Calculate annual night counts — multiply the weekly pattern across the school year, then account for holiday and summer deviations
- Check your threshold — determine whether your arrangement falls into shared custody (146-219 nights each), sole custody with prolonged access (between 20% and 40% of the year for the minority parent), or sole custody with ordinary access (20% or less of the year)
- Build in transition logistics — specify pickup/dropoff times, locations, and who's responsible for transportation
The Quebec Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide includes fillable schedule builder worksheets and a night count calculator that automates this process.
Step 3: Calculate Child Support
Quebec's child support model (Form 104 / Schedule I) is formula-based, which means you can calculate it yourself if you have the right inputs. The calculation requires:
- Each parent's annual disposable income — gross income minus the basic deduction, union dues, and professional fees, where applicable
- The number of children — the Basic Parental Contribution table references both income and child count
- The custody classification — shared, sole with prolonged access, or sole with ordinary access (from Step 2)
- Special expenses — childcare, post-secondary education, and extraordinary expenses such as specialized medical treatment, private school, or specialized academic programs, divided proportionally based on each parent's share of combined income. Extracurricular activities are generally covered by basic support unless the annual cost exceeds 5% of the basic parental contribution and the expense is reasonable and meets the child's specific needs.
For shared custody arrangements, the support calculation accounts for the fact that both parents incur direct costs when the child is in their care. The model calculates what each parent would pay the other under a sole-custody formula, then offsets the amounts. The parent with higher income pays the difference.
You don't need a lawyer to run these numbers. The guide's child support worksheet walks through each variable in plain language and produces a result you can verify against the Quebec government's online child support tables.
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Step 4: Draft Your Decision-Making and Communication Protocols
A parenting plan that only covers scheduling is incomplete. Quebec courts expect plans to address:
Decision-making authority. Both parents retain joint parental authority (or joint decision-making responsibility under the Divorce Act) by default. Your plan should specify how you'll handle disagreements about major decisions — education (school choice, tutoring), medical care (non-emergency treatments, specialists), religious upbringing, and extracurricular commitments. Common approaches include requiring written consent for decisions above a cost threshold, designating a tiebreaker process, or splitting decision domains.
Communication protocols. Specify how parents will communicate about the child's needs — email, a shared app, or a co-parenting platform. Set expectations for response times on routine matters vs. emergencies. Establish rules about what information the child's school, doctor, and extracurricular providers share with both parents.
Holiday and school break rotation. Build an alternating-year schedule for Christmas/New Year, spring break, summer vacation, statutory holidays (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Thanksgiving, Easter), and the child's birthday. Specify exchange times and locations for each holiday period.
Dispute resolution. Define what happens when parents can't agree — return to mediation, consult a parenting coordinator, or apply to the court. Courts prefer to see that parents have a structured escalation path rather than defaulting to litigation.
Travel and relocation. Include provisions for travel consent and notification requirements, and the relocation process if a parent plans to move.
Step 5: Mediate and File
For an initial separation, Quebec offers parents with dependent children five free hours of family mediation with a certified mediator; a review of an existing judgment or agreement receives 2.5 free hours. This is the most cost-effective way to finalize your plan.
Before mediation: Complete your schedule, support calculation, and protocol drafts. Organize your priorities into three categories — non-negotiable (safety, school stability), negotiable (holiday rotation details, extracurricular spending caps), and concessions you're prepared to make. Bring printed copies of your worksheets to the session.
During mediation: The mediator helps you and your co-parent work through disagreements and draft a written agreement. If you arrive prepared, five hours is typically enough to resolve the core issues. If you need more time, additional sessions cost CA$130/hour plus applicable taxes.
After mediation — filing options:
- Joint divorce application (married couples): File through JuridiQC for a CA$251 court fee. The platform generates the court forms based on your agreement.
- Agreed modification of an existing custody or support judgment: Use the Homologation Assistance Service (SAH), which connects parents with a legal-aid lawyer to prepare and file the necessary documents, for CA$651.
If mediation doesn't produce a complete agreement, the unresolved issues proceed through the contested court track, with the originating application served by bailiff and a Response due within 15 days.
Who This Is For
- Parents separating in Quebec who want to build their own parenting plan before paying for professional help
- Self-represented filers preparing for subsidized mediation who want to maximize their five free hours
- Common-law partners navigating the new Bill 56 parental union rules alongside custody planning
- Parents modifying an existing order who need an eligible support recalculation through SARPA or an agreed custody or support modification through SAH
Who This Is NOT For
- Parents facing domestic violence — contact a recognized domestic-violence support service and a lawyer before attempting any direct negotiation
- Situations where the other parent is hiding income, assets, or the child
- International relocation disputes requiring Hague Convention analysis
- Cases where a parent's fitness (substance use, mental health, criminal history) is being challenged in court
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a parenting plan I draft myself legally binding in Quebec?
A plan you draft yourself isn't legally binding until it's approved by a court. The plan is the working document you bring to mediation or file with the court — for an agreed modification to an existing custody or support judgment, the SAH can help prepare and file the documents for homologation.
How long does it take to prepare a parenting plan without a lawyer?
An amicable court route typically takes 3-6 months to resolve, even when the planning work is completed before mediation. The Quebec Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide structures the preparation with step-by-step worksheets.
What happens if we can't agree on everything in mediation?
If you can't reach a complete agreement through mediation, the unresolved points proceed through a contested application. The originating application must be served by bailiff, and the defendant has 15 days to file a Response.
Do I need to attend the "Parenting After Separation" session?
Quebec requires parents with minor or dependent children who disagree on an aspect of their separation to attend a free 2.5-hour information session before their case can be heard on the merits. It can be completed online and is a prerequisite for the court process, not a substitute for the planning work itself.
Can our parenting plan cover future changes automatically?
Yes — and it should. Include provisions for how the schedule changes when children start school, as their views and preferences receive more weight with age and maturity, or when a parent's work schedule changes. Also specify how child support will be recalculated through SARPA in eligible cases when income changes. Building in these mechanisms reduces the likelihood of returning to court.
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