Pennsylvania Parenting Plan

Pennsylvania uses a detailed vocabulary for physical custody (shared, primary, partial, sole and supervised) and expects the order to say which applies.

Document: Custody order
Court: Court of Common Pleas
Decision-making called: Legal custody
Parenting time called: Physical custody

Build your Pennsylvania residential schedule

Choose a pattern and get the exact overnight counts your custody order 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 custody order is the written document that tells the Court of Common Pleas, 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.

Pennsylvania uses the term physical custody 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

Custody and physical custody matters in Pennsylvania are heard in the Court of Common Pleas. 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 Pennsylvania judiciary publishes its current forms and local rules at www.pacourts.us. CustodyPlan is not affiliated with any court.

Choosing a schedule that works in Pennsylvania

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.

Pennsylvania questions

What are the custody types in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania recognizes shared physical custody, primary physical custody, partial physical custody, sole physical custody and supervised physical custody, alongside shared or sole legal custody. Your plan should identify which arrangement it creates.

What is partial physical custody?

It is the right to assume physical custody of the children for less than a majority of the time, the closest Pennsylvania equivalent to what other states call visitation.

What is a Pennsylvania custody order called on the court forms?

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

How many overnights do I need for a Pennsylvania 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 custody order in Pennsylvania?

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