Missouri Parenting Plan Form CAFC501

What Form CAFC501 Is

Form CAFC501 is the mandatory parenting plan form that Missouri requires in every dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or paternity case involving minor children. Under RSMo § 452.310, both parents must submit their proposed parenting plans within 30 days of service of process or the filing of an entry of appearance. If both parents agree, they can file a single joint plan.

The form has two parts. Part A covers custody arrangements, residential schedules, and co-parenting logistics. Part B covers child support, health insurance, and the allocation of child-related expenses — including a completed Form 14 worksheet.

The blank form is available for free from selfrepresent.mo.gov. The form itself is legally required to be free — Missouri law makes it a crime for any unlicensed person or document-preparation service to charge for preparing state-approved family law forms.

Part A: Custody and Parenting Time

Part A must address six mandatory areas:

Residential schedule. The specific days and times each parent has the child, including weekday assignments and weekend rotations. The schedule must also include provisions for major holidays (alternating by odd/even year), school breaks, birthdays, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. Judges reject plans that say "parents will share holidays" without specifying who has which holiday in which year.

Legal decision-making. How major decisions about education, non-emergency healthcare, and religious upbringing will be made. Under joint legal custody, both parents must confer before making these decisions. Some plans allocate tiebreaker authority — Parent A has final say on education, Parent B on healthcare — while maintaining the requirement to consult first.

Transportation. Who handles pickups and drop-offs, where exchanges happen, how transportation costs are shared, and what the protocol is for travel delays. This section prevents arguments about who drives how far on whose weekday.

Communication procedures. Rules for phone calls, video calls, and electronic communication between the child and each parent. Many plans specify daily or every-other-day calls during the other parent's parenting time, along with rules about reasonable hours and whether co-parenting apps (like OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents) are required.

Dispute resolution. A specific procedure for resolving disagreements — typically requiring mediation before either parent can file a court motion. Plans that skip this section get sent back.

Right of first refusal. Many Missouri plans include a provision that if one parent cannot care for the child during their scheduled time (work travel, illness), they must offer the time to the other parent before arranging third-party childcare. This is optional but increasingly common, and courts view it favorably as an indicator of cooperative co-parenting.

Part B: Child Support and Expenses

Part B integrates the financial side of the parenting plan:

Form 14 calculation. Both parents' gross monthly incomes, adjustments for prior child support or maintenance obligations, the basic support amount from the Rule 88.01 schedule, and the Line 11 overnight adjustment credit based on the residential schedule in Part A. The updated January 2026 schedule applies to all new or modified orders.

Health and dental insurance. Which parent provides coverage for the child, how premiums are allocated, and how uninsured medical and dental expenses are split. Most plans divide uninsured costs proportionally based on each parent's income share.

Other expenses. Allocation of costs for childcare, extracurricular activities, tutoring, and school supplies. The more specific the allocation, the fewer arguments later.

Common Reasons Plans Get Rejected

Courts send back parenting plans that:

• Use vague language like "reasonable parenting time" without specifying actual days
• Omit holiday or school-break provisions entirely
• Don't include a completed Form 14
• Skip the dispute resolution section
• Contradict themselves (claiming joint legal custody in one section but giving one parent unilateral decision-making authority in another)

Some counties require additional local forms alongside CAFC501. St. Louis County uses Form CCFC179, and Jackson County has its own local guidelines. Check your circuit's family court website for county-specific requirements.

Getting Your Plan Right

The plan you submit on Form CAFC501 becomes a court order once the judge approves it. Changing it later requires a court-approved modification based on changed circumstances and the child's best interests under RSMo § 452.410. Spending time on a thorough, detailed plan now saves the cost and stress of relitigating terms you could have addressed from the start.

The Missouri Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide walks through every section of CAFC501 with worksheets for scheduling, decision-making allocation, and the Form 14 calculation — so your plan is complete and specific enough that the court approves it on the first submission.

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