How to Make a Parenting Plan in Singapore

Every divorcing couple with children under 21 in Singapore must submit a parenting plan to the Family Justice Courts. For simplified (uncontested) track filings, the court requires a completed Agreed Parenting Plan before it will grant the divorce. For contested cases, you still need a Proposed Parenting Plan to present during mediation and case conferences.

The free template on the FJC website asks you to fill in blanks. But a blank form does not tell you how to negotiate the decisions behind those blanks — and that is where most parents get stuck.

What a Singapore Parenting Plan Must Cover

At minimum, the court expects your parenting plan to address these components:

Custody arrangements. Will both parents share joint custody (major decisions about education, healthcare, and religion), or does one parent have sole custody? Joint custody is the default unless there are serious concerns about one parent's fitness.

Care and control. Which parent will the child live with as their primary home? The parenting plan should specify who manages daily routines and has the child on school nights.

Access schedule. Exact days, times, and handover locations for the non-residential parent's time with the child. "Reasonable access" is not specific enough — courts want to see defined schedules.

School holiday and public holiday division. How the four MOE school breaks (March, June, September, December) are split. How gazetted holidays like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, and Christmas are alternated year-by-year.

Overseas travel. How much advance notice is required before a parent takes the child abroad. Who holds the passport. Whether both parents must consent to travel.

Decision-making process. How parents will handle disagreements about school changes, medical treatments, or enrichment activities. The plan should specify a resolution mechanism — mediation first, then court application as a last resort.

Financial support. Monthly child maintenance amount, who pays for extras (tuition, enrichment, medical), and how expenses are shared (50/50, proportional to income, or another arrangement).

The Agreed Parenting Plan Process

For uncontested divorces, both parents complete the Agreed Parenting Plan together and file it through the iFAMS portal. The process follows this sequence:

1. Complete the Mandatory CPP — both parents must have their Co-Parenting Programme certificate before filing
2. Draft the plan together — negotiate every clause, from daily handover times to birthday arrangements
3. File via iFAMS — submit the signed plan as part of your simplified track matrimonial application
4. Court review — a registrar reviews the plan to ensure it adequately protects the child's welfare
5. Interim Judgment — once approved, the court issues an Interim Judgment
6. Final Judgment — extracted after a minimum three-month cooling-off period

If the court finds the plan is too vague or does not adequately address the child's needs, it will send the application back for revision — delaying the entire process.

Common Mistakes That Get Plans Rejected

Vague access terms. Writing "alternate weekends" without specifying pickup time (Friday 6pm? Saturday 9am?), drop-off time, or the handover location.

No holiday rotation. Failing to specify who gets the child for Chinese New Year in odd versus even years, or how the June and December school holidays are divided.

Missing enrichment cost allocation. Singapore parents spend heavily on tuition and enrichment classes. A plan that does not cap enrichment spending or require mutual consent before enrollment creates immediate post-divorce conflict.

Ignoring age transitions. A schedule designed for a toddler becomes unworkable when the child starts primary school. Strong plans include milestone triggers that adjust the access schedule as the child grows — short frequent visits for infants, gradually transitioning to overnight weekends for school-age children.

No travel protocol. In Singapore's international environment, failing to specify advance notice requirements, passport custody, and consent processes for overseas trips is a common oversight.

Building a Plan That Works

The Singapore Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide gives you structured worksheets that walk through every clause a family court registrar evaluates. Instead of staring at a blank template, you work through specific negotiation exercises: designing age-appropriate access schedules, building holiday rotation matrices, and calculating expense-sharing ratios that align with how Singapore courts actually determine child maintenance.

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