Your Parenting Plan Has to Satisfy a Judge — Not Just Sound Fair to You and Your Ex
Oregon's family court system uses different terminology from every other state. "Custody" means legal decision-making authority only. The physical schedule is "parenting time." If you use the wrong terms on your forms, the court facilitator sends them back. If you propose "joint custody" but your co-parent objects, the judge cannot order it — ORS 107.169 forces sole custody to one parent. And the specific number of overnights you write into your plan determines whether you qualify for a child support credit under the 73-overnight threshold.
The Oregon Judicial Department provides free parenting plan templates online. What those templates do not provide is the operational sequence: which template to choose (Basic, Birth Through Three, or Safety-Focused), how to calculate overnight totals across a two-year average, how to prepare for mandatory county mediation, or how to draft holiday rotations that override the regular schedule without contradicting it.
The Oregon Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide is a Custody Process Roadmap — a step-by-step preparation tool that walks you through Oregon's entire custody and parenting-time framework using the actual statutes. It does not generate court forms or give legal advice. It teaches you the sequence, the requirements, and the strategy so you can draft a parenting plan that county mediators expect to see and that a judge will sign.
What's Inside the Guide
- Oregon's Custody and Parenting-Time Framework — The distinction between legal custody (decision-making) and parenting time (physical schedule), the joint-custody veto rule under ORS 107.169, and how to negotiate both tracks independently so you protect your decision-making authority without losing time with your child
- The Filing Sequence — Every step from Petition for Dissolution through the automatic statutory restraining order (ORS 107.093), service of process, the 30-day response window, financial disclosures, and the Co-Petitioner path for parents who file jointly
- Best-Interest Factor Worksheets — All six statutory factors under ORS 107.137 translated into questions you can answer about your own situation, including emotional bonds, caregiving history, willingness to facilitate the other parent's relationship, and abuse considerations — so you understand how a judge evaluates your case before mediation
- Six Parenting-Time Schedule Templates — Age-appropriate schedules for infants (Birth Through Three), school-age children, and teenagers, plus 50/50 options (alternating weeks, 2-2-5-5, 2-2-3, 3-4-4-3) and long-distance arrangements for parents living 60+ miles apart — each mapped to annual overnight counts
- Overnight Allocation Worksheet — Step-by-step instructions for counting overnights across regular schedules, holidays, and summer breaks, then calculating a two-year average to check against the 73-overnight threshold that determines child support credit eligibility under OAR 137-050
- Holiday and School Break Scheduling — Complete rotation templates covering 14 Oregon-specific holidays and school breaks, with alternating-year, split-day, and fixed-assignment options — written so each holiday clause overrides the regular schedule without creating conflicts
- Mandatory Mediation Preparation — What to expect at court-connected mediation, how to structure a written proposal the mediator can work with, confidentiality protections under ORS 36.220, safety exemption procedures under ORS 107.179, and what happens if mediation fails
- Modification, Relocation & Enforcement — The substantial-change-of-circumstances standard for modifying orders, the 60-mile relocation rule under ORS 107.159, emergency temporary order procedures, and contempt remedies when the other parent violates the plan
Who This Guide Is For
- Parents filing for divorce or dissolution in Oregon who need to work out custody and a parenting plan
- Unmarried parents establishing custody and parenting time through Circuit Court after paternity is established
- Parents preparing for mandatory county mediation who want to arrive with a written, structured proposal
- Parents seeking to modify an existing parenting plan after a job change, relocation, or the child outgrowing the current schedule
- Anyone planning to hire an attorney but wanting to reduce billable hours by organizing schedules, overnight counts, and plan clauses beforehand
Why Not Just Use Free Court Forms?
The Oregon Judicial Department provides free self-help forms and the Guide & File online portal. This guide does not replace those resources — it is a preparation workbook that helps you understand Oregon's terminology, organize your goals, and draft your terms before you sit down with those official templates.
Free forms ask what you want. They do not explain the joint-custody veto rule, how to calculate overnight totals across a two-year average, why certain parenting plan clauses get rejected by court facilitators, or how to present a proposal that mandatory mediators expect to see. National DIY portals like 3 Step Divorce charge $299 for generic document assembly that misses Oregon-specific requirements like county-approved parent education classes, the automatic restraining order under ORS 107.093, and the Birth Through Three schedule guidelines. Co-parenting apps like Custody X Change and OurFamilyWizard cost $72 to $300 per year per parent — and they handle daily logistics, not initial case filing and plan drafting.
This guide bridges the gap between blank court forms and an attorney who charges $275 to $500 per hour. It is the preparation work — organized, sequenced, and specific to Oregon family law — that saves you from default judgments, rejected paperwork, or thousands in legal fees.
What You Get
Your purchase includes 10 PDFs: the complete guide (20 chapters covering the full Oregon custody process from filing through enforcement), a parenting plan starter checklist with 20 action items, and 8 standalone worksheets you can print and bring to mediation — the Best-Interest Factors Worksheet, Overnight Allocation Worksheet, Parenting Schedule Comparison, Holiday Rotation Planner, Mediation Prep Worksheet, Parenting Plan Drafting Worksheet, Costs & Timeline Reference, and Filing Sequence Reference.
Satisfaction Guarantee: If the guide does not help you feel more prepared and organized for your custody process, email us and we will make it right.
— Less Than One Hour of Attorney Time
A single family law consultation in Oregon runs $275 to $500 per hour. This guide gives you the preparation framework to organize your case, understand the statutory requirements, and draft enforceable parenting plan terms before that consultation — or handle the process yourself with confidence.
The free checklist gives you a quick-start overview of Oregon's custody process and key preparation steps. The full guide gives you the complete roadmap, overnight calculation worksheets, and the Oregon-specific legal framework you need to get it right.