Child Custody Agreement - Delaware

Child Custody Agreement and Proposed Parenting Plan

Family Court of the State of Delaware, [COUNTY] County

Case number: [________________________________]

Date signed: [__/__/____]

Before you use this: This is the parents' proposed custody and contact arrangement for court review. Complete the residence and contact schedule for each child. The Family Court determines legal custody and residence according to the child's best interests. 13 Del. C. §§ 722, 728.

Parent A, [FULL NAME], and Parent B, [FULL NAME], agree to ask the Court to approve the terms below. Existing custody, contact, support, and protection orders govern until changed by the Court.

1. Parents, children, and existing orders

Existing custody, contact, support, or safety order; issuing court, date, and case number: [________________________________].

Other person with court-ordered contact or custody rights: [________________________________].

2. Legal custody and significant decisions

Proposed legal custody: ☐ Joint custody ☐ Sole custody to Parent A ☐ Sole custody to Parent B ☐ Other arrangement for a named child [________________________________].

When a joint decision cannot be reached after consultation by [METHOD], either parent may ask the Court for direction. A parent may arrange necessary emergency care for a child then in that parent's care and will tell the other parent as soon as reasonably practicable, subject to any safety order.

The parents will exchange material school, health, activity, and other significant information by [METHOD / AGREED TIME: ________________________________]. Each parent may request the child's records and information, subject to any restriction ordered after the hearing contemplated by 13 Del. C. § 727(a).

3. Residence and ordinary contact schedule

Proposed primary residence for each child: [CHILD / PARENT / ADDRESS OR SAFE DESIGNATION: ________________________________]. The Court will determine residence and contact under 13 Del. C. § 728(a).

Cycle start date and repeat pattern: [________________________________]. Child-specific differences: [________________________________].

Phone, video, and other reasonable contact with the child during the other parent's time: [FREQUENCY / TIMES / METHOD: ________________________________]. A completed contact schedule is requested as part of the custody order under 13 Del. C. § 727(c).

4. Holidays, vacations, and exchanges

A completed holiday or vacation period overrides the ordinary schedule. An unfilled period follows the ordinary schedule.

School-closing and summer pattern if different: [________________________________].

Vacation selection method, lead time, and overlapping-request rule: [________________________________].

Primary exchange place: [________________________________]. Backup or protected exchange place: [________________________________].

Transport: ☐ Receiving parent picks up ☐ Departing parent delivers ☐ School or care provider exchange ☐ Other: [________________________________].

If delayed, notice will be given by [METHOD]. Medication, school supplies, and agreed belongings traveling with the child: [________________________________].

Optional first offer of care when a parent will be unavailable for more than [____] hours: offer method [____________], response time [____], exceptions [________________________________].

5. Safety and special arrangements

Existing protection or restraining order, case number, and controlling terms: [________________________________].

Safety issue affecting custody, residence, contact, address sharing, or exchange: [________________________________].

Proposed supervised contact, protected exchange, confidential-contact, or other limit for court consideration: [________________________________]. Under 13 Del. C. §§ 722(a), 728(a), the Court makes the best-interest and restriction findings. No term here authorizes contact prohibited by another order.

6. Relocation, disputes, and later changes

A parent contemplating a move with a child will give the other parent the information and timing agreed here, subject to any court order or safety restriction: [NOTICE METHOD / ADDRESS / PROPOSED DATE / REVISED CONTACT: ________________________________]. This agreed notice does not replace a court filing or order. In custody or visitation litigation, a proposed relocation of a child for 60 days or more outside Delaware or materially affecting the existing arrangement triggers the Court's factor review under 13 Del. C. § 734. That section states a duration for court review; it does not itself set a 60-day notice period.

The parents may document an ordinary schedule adjustment in writing. A disputed change in legal custody or primary residence will be presented under 13 Del. C. § 729; a consent, interim, or written-agreement order has a different modification standard from an order entered after a full hearing. No private mediation or cure period delays a permitted court request.

If the Court finds interference with custody or contact, it will determine any remedy under 13 Del. C. § 728(b). This agreement creates no automatic fee, sanction, or change of residence.

7. Support and court submission

Child support, health coverage, and shared expenses are governed by: ☐ Existing order, case [____________] ☐ Separate proposal submitted with this plan ☐ Court determination requested. This custody agreement sets no support amount and does not itself modify a support order.

The parents submit this as: ☐ an agreed initial custody arrangement ☐ a proposed change to an order dated [__/__/____] ☐ a proposed contact-schedule adjustment. They request entry of the completed terms, subject to the Court's findings and required changes.

8. Signatures and proposed order

Each parent confirms that the completed choices express that parent's proposed terms and that the parent received a copy.

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

Printed name: [________________________________]

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

Printed name: [________________________________]

For court use: ☐ Approved and incorporated, subject to these changes: [________________________________] ☐ Considered; a separate order states different terms.

Judge: [________________________________] Order date: [__/__/____]

Sources and References

• 13 Del. C. §§ 722, 727–729, and 734, Custody and residence