Our Child's Plan (formerly the Parenting Plan): what it is and how to complete it
Our Child's Plan is Cafcass's written agreement for separated parents, setting out how they'll raise their children across two homes. It is the current version of what used to be called the Parenting Plan — Cafcass renamed it to put the child rather than the parents at the centre. It is not a court order and it is not legally binding, but it is the document most UK family mediators, Cafcass officers and solicitors will ask whether you have.
The name changed. The thing didn't. #
Cafcass's own wording: "the current version of our parenting plan is now called 'Our Child's Plan.'"
If you've been handed a "Parenting Plan" by a mediator, or found a template online called one, you're looking at the same document. The rename reflects a shift in framing — the plan exists for the child, not to divide assets between two adults — and Cafcass's version now also produces a child-friendly copy, written in simpler language and addressed directly to the child, which you can share with them if it's appropriate.
Is it legally binding? #
No. Our Child's Plan is an agreement between two parents, not an order of the court. Neither of you can be taken to court for breaching it, in itself.
That's less of a weakness than it sounds. Most separated parents never need a court order, and a plan both of you chose is usually followed better than one imposed on you.
Two things worth knowing:
- A plan can become binding if both of you agree to have it made into a consent order by the court. That usually goes through a solicitor. More on consent orders →
- A plan is evidence of what was agreed. If matters do reach court, a documented plan — and a record of whether it was followed — is a great deal more useful than two conflicting accounts.
What goes in it #
Cafcass's plan covers roughly these areas. Whether you use their template, your mediator's, or your own, these are the things to settle:
| Area | The question actually being answered |
|---|---|
| Living arrangements | Where do the children mainly live, and what's the regular pattern? |
| The schedule | Which nights with each parent, week by week? |
| Handovers | What time, where, who does the travelling, what if someone's late? |
| School holidays | Split or alternated? Who has which half term? How far ahead is summer agreed? |
| Christmas and birthdays | Alternate years, or split the day? Whose birthday tradition survives? |
| Communication | Between the two of you — how, how often, what's urgent. And between each parent and the children when they're at the other house. |
| Decision-making | Who decides what, and what needs both of you (school changes, medical treatment, passports, moving away) |
| Education | Which school, parents' evenings, who's the first contact, how school communications are shared |
| Health | GP and dentist, appointments, medication, who takes them, who's told |
| Money | Maintenance separately — but also the extras: uniform, trips, clubs, equipment. Who pays, in what proportion, agreed how? |
| Travel and abroad | Consent for holidays, passports, notice required, what information is shared |
| Childcare and other people | Grandparents, new partners, babysitters, who can collect |
| When you disagree | The most-skipped section and the most useful one. Back to mediation? Who arranges it? |
| Safety | Anything either of you needs written down about how contact happens safely |
The section almost everyone skips #
"What we'll do when we disagree."
Nearly every plan we see leaves it blank or writes "we'll discuss it". That's the section that decides whether a future disagreement costs you an afternoon or £4,000.
Write something concrete: "If we can't agree within seven days, we go back to mediation before either of us applies to court, and we split the cost 50/50." Naming the mediator and the timescale makes it real.
How to actually complete it #
With a mediator. The usual route, and the one that works best, because a mediator asks the questions you'd both avoid. If you haven't had a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting yet, that's the starting point — and the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme may cover up to £500 towards it.
Between yourselves. Entirely possible if you're on reasonable terms. Cafcass publishes the template free. Work through it separately first, then compare — you'll find you agree on more than you expected, and the disagreements will be specific rather than general.
Using our free builder. Our parenting plan builder walks the same sections in plain English, takes about five minutes, and gives you a PDF. No account needed.
Writing it so it survives #
A plan that gets used has three properties a plan that gets filed doesn't:
It's specific. "Reasonable contact" is not an arrangement. "Alternate weekends, Friday 5pm to Sunday 6pm, plus Wednesday overnight in the weeks without a weekend" is.
It covers next Christmas, not just next Tuesday. Holidays are where plans break, because they're the bit nobody wants to negotiate while it's still February.
It's somewhere you'll both look. This is the honest reason plans fail — not disagreement, just distance between the document and the day. A plan in a PDF in an old email is not a plan you consult at 7am when you can't remember whose week it is.
How OurPath uses your plan #
This is the part we built the product around. In OurPath, Our Child's Plan isn't a document you store — it's the configuration. The schedule you agree becomes your shared calendar, eighteen months ahead, with your local authority's term dates already in it. The holiday rules become the holiday entries. The money split becomes the default on every cost either of you logs.
Change the plan and everything changes with it — with both parents accepting the new version, and the old one kept on record.
Common questions #
What if my co-parent won't agree to a plan? You can't make them. What you can do is write your own proposal, send it, and keep a record that you did. If they won't engage, a MIAM is the next step — and attending one is a prerequisite for most court applications anyway.
Do we need a solicitor? Not to make a plan. You may want one if you're turning it into a consent order, if there's a dispute about where the children live, or if there are safety concerns.
How often should we review it? Annually, and whenever something structural changes — a house move, a new school, a new job with different hours. Children's needs at four aren't their needs at eleven. Put a review date in the plan itself.
Is "Our Child's Plan" different from a Child Arrangements Order? Completely. A plan is a voluntary agreement between parents. A Child Arrangements Order is made by a court and is enforceable. The difference, in detail →
This guide is general information about how parenting plans work in England and Wales. It isn't legal advice. For advice about your situation, speak to a family law solicitor.