Child Custody Agreement - District of Columbia

CHILD CUSTODY AGREEMENT AND PARENTING PLAN

Proposed order for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Family Court. The signing parents agree to the completed terms below and ask the Court to incorporate them into its custody order. Court orders and protection orders already in effect control until changed by the Court.

1. CASE AND PARENTS

Parent A address or protected mailing address: [________________________________]

Parent B address or protected mailing address: [________________________________]

Preferred contact methods: Parent A [________________________________]; Parent B [________________________________].

2. CHILDREN AND EXISTING ORDERS

Other children needing a separate plan because their arrangements differ: [________________________________]

Protection, custody, child support, no-contact, or other relevant order, including court and date: [________________________________]

Safe exchange, protected address, supervision, or contact conditions required by an order: [________________________________]

3. LEGAL CUSTODY AND DECISIONS

☐ Joint legal custody is proposed.

☐ Sole legal custody to Parent A is proposed.

☐ Sole legal custody to Parent B is proposed.

☐ Other allocation for court review: [________________________________]

Consultation method and response time for joint decisions: [________________________________]

If a joint decision cannot be made: [________________________________]

Emergency health decision and notice procedure: [________________________________]

Access to educational, medical, and other child records, subject to court orders: [________________________________]

4. PHYSICAL CUSTODY AND REGULAR SCHEDULE

☐ Joint physical custody is proposed.

☐ Physical custody primarily with Parent A is proposed.

☐ Physical custody primarily with Parent B is proposed.

☐ Other arrangement for court review: [________________________________]

This schedule repeats: ☐ weekly ☐ every two weeks ☐ other: [________________________________]

Alternating-week or child-specific detail: [________________________________]

School closing, illness, weather, and missed exchange procedure: [________________________________]

5. HOLIDAYS, BREAKS, AND VACATION

Completed holiday rows override the ordinary schedule for their stated periods.

Summer schedule or continuation of ordinary schedule: [________________________________]

Uninterrupted vacation periods, notice, and selection priority: [________________________________]

6. EXCHANGES, CONTACT, AND TEMPORARY CHANGES

Ordinary exchange location and transportation: [________________________________]

Protected or supervised exchange arrangement, if applicable: [________________________________]

Late arrival and emergency delay notice: [________________________________]

Parent-to-parent communication method and frequency: [________________________________]

Child's phone, video, and written contact with the other parent: [________________________________]

Request for a temporary schedule change, response time, and written record: [________________________________]

First offer of care, if agreed and consistent with safety orders: ☐ None ☐ Offer to the other parent when care by someone else is needed for more than [____] hours; notice by [________________________________]; response within [____] hours; exceptions [________________________________].

7. SAFETY, TRAVEL, AND MOVES

Child-specific safety provisions and any controlling order: [________________________________]

Domestic travel notice and emergency contact: [________________________________]

International travel, passport, and consent terms: [________________________________]

Proposed change of residence affecting the schedule: The parent proposing a change will notify the other by [________________________________] as soon as the proposed move is known, provide a proposed revised schedule, and seek any required court order. This paragraph sets the parents' proposed process; it does not itself authorize a change to a court order.

8. SUPPORT, HEALTH COVERAGE, AND OTHER COSTS

☐ Existing support order or case controls: [________________________________]

☐ The parents propose support of $[________________________________] paid ☐ weekly ☐ biweekly ☐ monthly ☐ other: [________________________________], subject to the Court's review under the child support guideline.

Guideline calculation or support worksheet supplied to the Court: [________________________________]

Tax-dependent proposal, subject to applicable tax law and the support order: [________________________________]

Joint custody does not remove a parent's child support responsibility. The Court reviews support terms in an agreement that is to become or merge into an order against the guideline.

9. DISAGREEMENTS AND COURT REVIEW

Voluntary discussion or counseling process, when safe and permitted by orders: [________________________________]

Issues reserved for Court decision: [________________________________]

Other terms agreed for Court review: [________________________________]

A custody award may be modified by the Court after the required substantial and material change in circumstances and best-interest determination. This agreement creates no automatic modification, private cure period, fee award, or substitute for the Court's order.

10. SIGNATURES

We have reviewed the completed plan and ask the Court to approve it as a custody order, subject to the Court's best-interest determination. We identify any disagreement above rather than treating an uncompleted field as agreed.

Parent A printed name: [________________________________]

Signature: [________________________________] Date: [__/__/____]

Parent B printed name: [________________________________]

Signature: [________________________________] Date: [__/__/____]

Counsel for Parent A, if any: [________________________________]

Counsel for Parent B, if any: [________________________________]

11. COURT DISPOSITION

☐ Approved and incorporated into the custody order.

☐ Approved with changes stated in the attached or separate order.

☐ Not approved; the Court's separate order controls.

Date: [__/__/____] Judicial Officer: [________________________________]

Sources and References

• D.C. Code § 1-612.02
• D.C. Code § 11-1101
• D.C. Code § 16-914
• D.C. Code § 16-916.01
• Superior Court parenting plan