Parenting plan examples for UK families

✦ The starting point

A plan is an agreement you can understand together.

A parenting plan puts the practical arrangements into words: the pattern, the handovers and the details that make a week work. It is a voluntary agreement, not automatically a court order, so it can be changed by agreement as family life changes.

The family court works from the no order principle. In simple terms, a court should only make an order where an order is genuinely better for the child than making no order. That is why an agreed plan can be the better starting point for families who can make one work: it leaves room for ordinary life while making the shared expectations clearer.

This page focuses on patterns, so it does not repeat the full checklist. For the wider subjects to think through, use the UK parenting plan template. When you are ready to write a private working version, use the free parenting plan builder, or choose the printable Our parenting plan.

✦ Eight patterns to think through

Examples are about the handovers between the blocks.

A pattern is only useful when the changeovers are clear. For each example below, the “who it suits” line is a question to consider, not a recommendation for a particular family.

• 01

  Alternating weeks

  Who it may suit: families where the children and both homes can manage a longer block apart. Write down: the exact handover point between weeks, who takes the children to and from school, what happens when the handover day is a holiday, and how school items move between homes. See the practical alternating weeks guide for the detail to cover.

• 02

  A 2-2-3 rotating pattern

  Who it may suit: families who want shorter gaps and can keep a repeating short-cycle pattern clear. Write down: which parent has each two-day block, which parent has the three-day block, the handover times, and how everyone checks which part of the cycle comes next.

• 03

  Every other weekend plus a midweek evening

  Who it may suit: families where one home is the main base during the school week and both parents want regular time. Write down: the weekend start and finish, the midweek evening start and return, school collection arrangements, and what happens when a weekend meets a holiday.

• 04

  A school-term and holidays split

  Who it may suit: families who need one rhythm during term and a different way to share school holidays. Write down: who collects at the beginning and end of each break, how holiday dates are confirmed, how special days fit around the split, and where the ordinary term pattern starts again.

✦ Keep the words current

Record changes while they are clear.

Plans often need small changes. A school event, a different work pattern or a child’s changing needs can make the original arrangement less useful. A calm way to handle that is to propose the change in writing, say whether it is temporary or ongoing, and record what both parents have agreed.

Keep the original plan available as well as the updated wording. Note when the change starts and which handover it affects. If there is no agreement, keep that separate from the agreed plan rather than editing history. This is general record-keeping guidance, not a promise about what any court would decide.

ParentGlow is intended as a calm place to keep the living plan and record agreed changes. The point is not to make every family use an app. It is to reduce the “what did we agree?” moments when a clear shared record would help.

Sources read 13 September 2026: Cafcass, Planning Together for Children · Cafcass, Our Child's Plan · GOV.UK, apply for a court order. The examples are general information, not legal advice.