Florida Parenting Plan Form 12.995(a) preparation checklist

Start with the free official form

Florida Courts currently publishes Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan, dated February 2018. The official PDF is 18 pages: four pages of instructions followed by the 14-page plan. Read the complete instructions and every provision before entering information.

Source checked September 24, 2026. Confirm the revision on the current Florida Courts forms index ↗ before starting.

Confirm that this is the form already selected

The official instructions say this standard form or a similar form is used to develop a parenting plan. They separately identify Form 12.995(b) for supervised or safety-focused time-sharing and Form 12.995(c) for relocation or long-distance circumstances. Choosing among those forms can affect important rights and safety issues.

Sun State does not screen a family's facts, decide which parenting-plan form applies, evaluate the best interests of a child, or recommend terms. If the selection is uncertain—or safety, domestic violence, supervised time-sharing, or relocation may be involved—pause and seek qualified help.

1. Case, parent, and child information

Gather the identifying information the plan displays:

• Judicial circuit, county, case number, and division
• Petitioner and respondent names from the case caption
• Whether the plan is agreed, proposed, court-established, temporary, final, or a modification
• The name or designation used for each parent throughout the plan
• Each parent's address, telephone number, and email address, subject to any applicable confidentiality selection
• Each child's name and date of birth

2. Responsibility, decisions, and information sharing

The form addresses jurisdiction, parental responsibility, major decisions, extracurricular activities, access to records, and information sharing. Before completing those sections, organize only the terms the parents have independently chosen or the court has ordered, including:

• The selected parental-responsibility arrangement and any stated decision-making authority
• Who is responsible for education, non-emergency health care, and other listed or family-specific activities
• How extracurricular activities, transportation, uniforms, equipment, and costs are handled
• Any additional information-sharing terms

The software can transfer supplied selections and text into the form. It cannot decide which arrangement is appropriate or whether proposed language is complete, enforceable, or in a child's best interests.

3. School calendar and regular time-sharing schedule

Have a calendar nearby. The plan asks for the school calendar used to calculate breaks, the meaning of academic break periods, and procedures for requested schedule changes. Its regular-schedule section includes weekends, weekdays, start and end times, different schedules for named children, and other arrangements.

Use precise days, times, and exchange points. If a separate schedule will be attached, identify it consistently with the plan. The form also provides blanks for each parent's total annual overnights; its printed note says those two numbers must total 365.

4. Holidays, winter break, spring break, and summer

The holiday table and school-break sections require more than a general statement. Prepare the exact selections and details the parents independently intend to use:

• Which parent has each listed holiday in even-numbered and odd-numbered years
• Start and end times for holiday periods
• How winter and spring breaks are assigned or divided
• Whether summer follows the regular schedule or uses a different arrangement
• Any child-specific schedule or attached schedule

Check for overlaps among regular weekends, holidays, and school breaks. Sun State does not resolve conflicts or calculate which schedule should control.

5. Transportation, exchanges, and travel

The plan includes choices and blanks for who provides transportation, exchange locations, lateness, transportation costs, and out-of-state or international travel. Organize the selected parent names or designations, locations, notice periods, cost percentages, and any travel information or security terms the parents have chosen.

Relocation is addressed separately in the form and may require a different parenting plan and legal procedure. A form filler cannot determine whether travel terms amount to relocation or explain how section 61.13001, Florida Statutes, applies to a particular family.

6. Education, communication, child care, and other terms

Prepare the school-boundary address and any private-school, home-school, or other education provisions. The communication section asks how parents communicate with one another and how children communicate with the other parent, including methods, days, hours, and costs. The child-care section asks who may select providers, whether both parents must agree, whether one parent must offer the other an opportunity to care for the children before using a provider for a stated period, and any other arrangement.

The plan also contains printed provisions about changes, modification, relocation, and dispute resolution, followed by space for other provisions. Read those printed paragraphs closely before adding anything.

7. Review, signatures, and filing

After the plan is completed, compare it line by line with the parents' intended terms and the official instructions. The official instructions state that when an agreement has been reached, both parties must sign and have their signatures witnessed by a notary public or deputy clerk. The form includes separate signing dates, signatures, notarization, identification, and contact information for each parent.

Sun State leaves signatures, signing dates, notarization, identification, and nonlawyer-assistance entries blank for manual completion. The official instructions address filing the original, keeping a copy, and following the related petition or answer instructions for a hearing or trial. Confirm current local procedures with the clerk of the circuit court.

Complete the plan the parents already selected

The official blank PDF is free. Sun State's optional $49 self-service software transfers customer-supplied entries into its configured Form 12.995(a) and delivers editable, print, and unchanged blank PDFs with the official instructions. It does not choose terms, negotiate an agreement, provide legal advice, file the plan, or review it for legal sufficiency.

Official information and independent help