Co-Parenting Worksheets | Parenting Agreement Worksheets
Download our free, printable PDF to start off on the right foot with co-parenting. The worksheets will help you reach a parenting agreement and reflect on how your new arrangement could work best.
What you'll find in these free worksheets
- Goal-setting prompts
- Schedule ideas, with space for your own drafts
- Parenting plan guidance, with space for your ideas
- Information on using a co-parenting app
- Co-parenting advice
How to use these co-parenting worksheets
- Each parent fills out their worksheets alone. This gives you each space to think freely while you're fleshing out ideas. Skip anything that doesn't feel relevant to your situation.
- Each parent drafts a parenting plan using the ideas in their worksheets. You can use the Custody X Change parenting plan template for more guidance.
- Some parents go over their worksheets together. It's a great way to get a conversation flowing. Other parents just go over their parenting plan proposals.
When you've prepared with parenting agreement worksheets, your co-parenting discussions can be less heated and more focused on what's best for your child.
Who should use these co-parenting worksheets
These parenting agreement worksheets are perfect for new co-parents. Fill them out when you're considering splitting up or soon after you split. Topics like "our most likely areas of disagreement" are important to think about before you get too far down the road.
Co-parents who need to revisit how things are working can also benefit from the worksheets. They can help you think through possible changes to your arrangement.
Mediators, lawyers, divorce coaches and co-parenting therapists like to hand the worksheets out to clients. Please feel free to distribute them widely.
Get the downloadable worksheets
Download the free co-parenting worksheets.
Other co-parenting resources
As you start co-parenting, these articles (and one quiz) may help:
- Should Co-Parents Spend Time Together?
- How To De-Escalate Tension Between You and Your Ex
- Filing for Custody
- How to Prepare for a Child Support Hearing
- Quiz: What Schedule Is Best for You?
For more help with co-parenting
Co-parenting well requires you to organize a lot of information. You may need to create multiple parenting plan drafts, track your expenses, schedule months in advance, and more.
The Custody X Change app enables you to do all of this in one place. With a parenting plan template, an expense tracker, custody calendars and beyond, Custody X Change makes sure you're prepared for whatever arises in your journey to parenting apart.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to fill out co-parenting worksheets?
Not unless someone, like your mediator, says you need to. But it's recommended because it can help you co-parent more cooperatively. Studies have shown that cooperative co-parenting is tied to better mental health for children after divorce.
What if my co-parent won't fill out the worksheets?
You can fill them out on your own. Your child will still benefit when one parent takes the time to prepare thoughtfully for co-parenting. Plus, you'll get the benefit of going into negotiations with clear requests.
What if we can't agree?
If you can't agree in mediation, you'll each propose a parenting plan to the court. A judge will decide what's best for your child. Since this takes a long time and puts the child's future in a stranger's hands, most parents find a way to settle.