Oregon Parenting Plan

Oregon requires a parenting plan in cases involving children and distinguishes between a general plan and a detailed plan. Either way the plan must set out the minimum parenting time the noncustodial parent is entitled to, and the court will develop a detailed plan if a parent asks for one or the parents cannot agree on their own.

Document: Parenting plan
Court: Circuit Court
Decision-making called: Legal custody
Parenting time called: Parenting time

Build your Oregon 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 Circuit 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.

Oregon uses the term parenting time for the time the children spend with each parent, and legal custody 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 Oregon 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 Oregon

Custody and parenting time matters in Oregon are heard in the Circuit 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 Oregon judiciary publishes its current forms and local rules at courts.oregon.gov. CustodyPlan is not affiliated with any court.

Choosing a schedule that works in Oregon

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.

Oregon questions

Does Oregon require a parenting plan?

Yes. Oregon requires a parenting plan in cases involving minor children. Parents may submit either a general or a detailed plan, and a detailed plan is far easier to enforce.

General or detailed parenting plan in Oregon?

A general plan gives a broad outline and leaves the day-to-day details to the parents, but even a general plan has to state the minimum parenting time the noncustodial parent is entitled to. A detailed plan sets out specific days, times, holidays and transportation. If the relationship is at all strained, submit a detailed plan, because a general plan leaves far more open to argue about later.

Does Oregon award joint custody without agreement?

Oregon courts cannot order joint legal custody unless both parents agree to it. Parenting time is decided separately, so a substantially shared schedule remains possible even where legal custody is sole.

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

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

How many overnights do I need for a Oregon 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 Oregon?

Parents routinely prepare and file their own agreed plans. Where Oregon 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.