Child Custody Agreement - Connecticut

CHILD CUSTODY AGREEMENT AND PARENTING PLAN

Connecticut Superior Court, Judicial District of: [________________________________]

Docket number (if assigned): [________________________________]

Proposed plan: ☐ Temporary ☐ Final ☐ Postjudgment modification

Existing custody order, if any (court, docket, date): [________________________________]

The parents agree to these terms and ask the court to approve them as a custody and access order. Any existing order remains controlling until changed by the court. The court may reject a proposed plan that is not in the children's best interests. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 46b-56, 46b-56a(f).

1. Parents and children

Parent A address and safe contact method: [________________________________]

Parent B address and safe contact method: [________________________________]

Safety or protective order affecting exchanges, contact, or an address: [COURT, DATE, TERMS OR NONE]

Other household members or caregiving needs relevant to this schedule: [________________________________]

2. Custody and decisions

Legal custody proposed: ☐ Joint ☐ Sole to Parent A ☐ Sole to Parent B ☐ Other: [________________________________]

For joint legal custody, the parents will consult on major health, education, and religious-upbringing decisions as stated below. Joint legal custody may exist without joint physical custody if the parents agree to that arrangement. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-56a(a).

If the parents cannot agree after consultation: [CONSULTATION STEPS, OPTIONAL MEDIATOR, AND WHEN EITHER MAY ASK THE COURT]

Time-sensitive care: A parent caring for a child may obtain necessary emergency care and will notify the other by [METHOD] as soon as reasonably possible, consistent with any protective order.

Physical residence and parenting time proposed: ☐ Primarily with Parent A ☐ Primarily with Parent B ☐ Shared according to the schedule below ☐ Other: [________________________________]

3. Parenting-time schedule

Effective date after court approval: [__/__/____]

For a child under three or with special needs, alternate schedule and review date: [________________________________]

Telephone or video contact with the other parent: [FREQUENCY, TIME, METHOD, PRIVACY OR LIMITS]

Holidays

The holiday schedule controls over the regular schedule during its specified start and end times.

Summer schedule: ☐ Regular schedule continues ☐ Alternate schedule: [________________________________]

Vacation weeks per parent, request deadline, and selection priority: [________________________________]

Makeup time for missed visits, if appropriate: [________________________________]

Transportation, exchange location, and any supervised exchange: [________________________________]

Travel notice and contact information, subject to safety orders: [________________________________]

Optional first offer of care when a parent needs other childcare for more than [____] hours: ☐ Applies, with notice and response procedure [________________________________] ☐ Does not apply

4. Information, care, and communication

Each parent will share school, care, health, and activity information needed to carry out this plan, subject to confidentiality law and court orders. A parent not granted custody is not denied access to a child's academic, medical, hospital, or other health records unless the court orders otherwise for good cause. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-56(g).

Routine updates and parent-to-parent communication method: [________________________________]

Notice of emergencies, school concerns, address or contact changes, and other significant events: [METHOD AND TIMING]

Childcare providers, medications, belongings, and school materials at exchanges: [________________________________]

Extracurricular enrollment, attendance, transportation, and expenses: [________________________________]

Safety, substance-use, firearm-storage, or household conditions requested of the court: [________________________________]

The parents will avoid involving the children in disputes and communicate schedule changes directly or through the safe method specified above.

5. Child-related expenses and existing orders

Existing child-support or health-coverage order (court, docket, date): [________________________________]

Requested support or coverage order, if any: [SEPARATE FILING OR AGREED ORDER]

Proposed allocation of uninsured health costs and agreed activity costs, subject to a controlling support order: [________________________________]

This agreement does not replace a child-support order or determine a tax dependency claim.

6. Relocation and later disputes

Proposed advance notice for a move affecting the schedule: [____] days by [METHOD], with proposed address or safe general location, move date, reasons, and revised schedule. This is the parents' proposed term, subject to any court order or safety restriction; § 46b-56d sets no fixed mileage or advance-notice period.

Section 46b-56d's burden applies in a proceeding after a custody judgment when a parent's relocation with the child would significantly affect an existing parenting plan. In that proceeding the relocating parent must prove a legitimate purpose, a reasonable proposed location in light of that purpose, and the child's best interests by a preponderance of the evidence. The court also considers the factors in § 46b-56d(b).

Procedure for ordinary disagreements: [DIRECT DISCUSSION, OPTIONAL MEDIATION, RESPONSE TIME, COURT MOTION]

Procedure for a missed obligation and the child's changing needs: [DOCUMENTATION, MAKEUP ARRANGEMENT, REVIEW DATE]

These discussion steps do not bar a parent from seeking timely court relief. Only a later court order changes an existing custody order. If an immediate and present risk of physical danger or psychological harm exists, a person seeking custody under § 46b-56 may apply separately for emergency ex parte custody relief under § 46b-56f.

7. Court submission and signatures

Parenting education: ☐ Both completed ☐ Parent A completed ☐ Parent B completed ☐ Waiver or comparable program requested ☐ Not yet addressed. Section 46b-69b(b) provides exceptions to the usual participation order.

For a separate-parent custody application under § 46b-61, the applicant must use the applicable summons and application procedure and file documents establishing the parent-child relationship by the first docket date. This agreement alone does not start a case. The Judicial Branch custody forms index lists JD-FM-161, JD-FM-162, JD-FM-158, JD-FM-164, and JD-CL-12 for a new custody or visitation case. The parents may use the court's JD-FM-284 Custody Agreement and Parenting Plan for court submission.

The parents ask the court to review this agreement and approve the proposed custody and parenting-time terms. In a final agreement covered by § 46b-66, the court reviews fairness and equity before incorporation into its order.

Parent A signature: _________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Parent B signature: _________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Counsel for Parent A, if any: [NAME AND SIGNATURE] Date: [__/__/____]

Counsel for Parent B, if any: [NAME AND SIGNATURE] Date: [__/__/____]

Proposed court order

The court, after review, ☐ approves the agreement as written ☐ approves it with attached changes ☐ declines approval. Approved terms are incorporated in the court's order to the extent stated here: [________________________________]

Judge: _________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Sources and references

• Conn. Gen. Stat. Chapter 815j, including §§ 46b-56, 46b-56a, 46b-56d, 46b-56f, 46b-61, 46b-66, and 46b-69b.
• Connecticut Judicial Branch JD-FM-284 Custody Agreement and Parenting Plan.
• Connecticut Judicial Branch custody forms index.