What happens if one parent wants a Parenting Plan and the other wants Parenting Orders?

Learn the differences between Parenting Plans and Parenting Orders, and what to do if parents disagree. Understand your legal options and next steps. Contact us for expert legal advice.

A Parenting Plan is an informal way of setting out the parenting arrangements for children after a separation. They work well with parties who communicate well and are able to make decisions together. A disadvantage is that a Parenting Plan is not legally enforceable and so if a party breaches or does not follow it there is no legal redress to the Court to ensure it is followed, although it can be used as evidence of what had been agreed if there is a breakdown in the arrangements.

By contrast Parenting Orders are legally enforceable if a parent breaches them and the Court can help remedy any breaches with an Application for Contravention. If there is a dispute about whether arrangements should be formalised by way of a Parenting Plan or Parenting Orders neither party can force the other party to agree to something they don't want.

If there is a disagreement it may be beneficial to arrange a Mediation so that discussions can take place to come to an agreement but otherwise it may become necessary for the parent who wants Parenting Orders to file an Initiating Application with the Court after attending Mediation to ask for the Court's intervention. The Court can only make Orders and not issue a Parenting Plan although even though the dispute has ended up in Court, the parents can still negotiate and come to an agreement which would be finalised by Orders.Otherwise the parties may have to try and navigate the parenting arrangements without an Agreement in place at all and see how that goes before addressing the parenting arrangements again in the future.

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