Arizona Parenting Plan

Arizona replaced the word 'custody' in its statutes with 'legal decision-making' and 'parenting time'. Using the state's vocabulary in your plan avoids confusion at filing.

Document: Parenting plan
Court: Superior Court
Decision-making called: Legal decision-making
Parenting time called: Parenting time

Build your Arizona residential schedule

Choose a pattern and get the exact overnight counts your parenting plan needs to state.

Schedule pattern

50/50

Each parent keeps the same two weekdays every week and the weekends alternate, producing a repeating 2-2-5-5 night pattern.

January 2026

Parent A
Parent B

Tap any night to switch parents.

A parenting plan is the written document that tells the Superior Court, and, afterwards, both households, where your children are on each night of the year and who decides what. Once the court signs it, it is an order rather than an agreement.

Arizona uses the term parenting time for the time the children spend with each parent, and legal decision-making for the authority to make major decisions. Drafting in the state's own vocabulary avoids questions at filing and makes the plan easier for the court to read.

What a Arizona plan needs to cover

Residential schedule

Which parent the children are with on every night of the year, including how the regular rotation works and when it starts.

Holidays and school breaks

How Thanksgiving, the winter holidays, spring break, summer and each child's birthday are divided, and how the rotation alternates between years.

Exchanges and transportation

Where exchanges happen, at what time, who does the driving, and what happens when someone is running late.

Decision-making

Who decides on education, medical care, religion and activities: jointly, or with one parent having the final say in specific areas.

Communication

How the parents contact each other, how each parent contacts the children during the other's time, and what counts as an emergency.

Changes and disputes

How the parenting plan gets changed later, notice periods for relocation, and what the parents will try before returning to court.

Filing in Arizona

Custody and parenting time matters in Arizona are heard in the Superior Court. Forms, filing fees, mediation requirements and local rules differ between counties, and they change, so confirm the current requirements with the court where you are filing before you prepare anything final.

The Arizona judiciary publishes its current forms and local rules at azcourts.gov. CustodyPlan is not affiliated with any court.

Choosing a schedule that works in Arizona

The schedule is the part of the plan you will actually live with, and the part every other section depends on. Start from your children's ages and the distance between the two homes, then pick the pattern that fits both.

Arizona questions

Does Arizona still use the word custody?

Not in the provisions that decide your case. Arizona's Title 25, Chapter 4 is titled 'Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time' and uses those two terms throughout. 'Custody' still appears in the state's jurisdiction statutes, and 'visitation' is now defined as time with someone other than a legal parent. Write your plan using legal decision-making and parenting time.

Is a parenting plan required in Arizona?

Where the parents cannot agree on legal decision-making or parenting time, Arizona requires each parent to submit their own proposed parenting plan. Where the parents do agree, a single written plan filed with the consent decree is what the court signs, and it makes the arrangement far easier for a judge to approve.

What is a Arizona parenting plan called on the court forms?

Arizona refers to it as a parenting plan, filed in the Superior Court. The state uses "legal decision-making" for decision-making authority and "parenting time" for the time each parent spends with the children. Check the current forms published by the Arizona judiciary before filing, as forms and local rules change.

How many overnights do I need for a Arizona plan?

Whatever your schedule actually produces, and the plan should state it precisely. In most states the overnight count feeds into the child-support formula and into how the arrangement is classified, though a few states, Texas among them, set guideline support from income alone. The calculator on this page gives you the exact annual figure for the schedule you choose.

Can I write my own parenting plan in Arizona?

Parents routinely prepare and file their own agreed plans. Where Arizona publishes a mandatory or preferred form, work the schedule and figures out first and then transfer them onto that form. Having an attorney review the plan before you sign is advisable, particularly if the two of you disagree on anything substantive.

CustodyPlan is a document-preparation tool, not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice, and using CustodyPlan does not create an attorney-client relationship. We are not affiliated with any court. Have your completed plan reviewed by an attorney or your local court before filing.