Is a parenting plan actually required in Illinois, or just recommended?

Required by statute. Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10(a), every parent involved in a case for the allocation of parental responsibilities must file a proposed parenting plan with the court, either jointly with the other parent or separately if they can't agree. This isn't optional or court-specific, it's a statewide filing requirement.

How long do I have to file a parenting plan?

120 days after a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities is served or filed, whichever applies to you. The court can extend this deadline for good cause, but the default is 120 days, and it applies whether you're filing jointly with your co-parent or on your own.

What happens if my co-parent and I submit different parenting plans?

The court reviews both proposed plans and decides the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time itself, based on the child's best interest. Filing separately isn't a penalty, it's what the statute expects when parents can't agree, but an agreed joint plan is generally faster and gives parents more control over the outcome than leaving it to a judge.

Is a parenting plan the same as the allocation judgment or custody order?

Related, but not identical. The parenting plan is the proposed document parents file describing decision-making and parenting time. The allocation judgment (Illinois's equivalent of a custody order) is the court's final ruling, which typically incorporates an agreed plan or the terms the judge decided after a hearing.

What specifically has to be in an Illinois parenting plan?

750 ILCS 5/602.10(f) lists roughly 16 required items, including the allocation of significant decision-making responsibilities, each parent's parenting time and a schedule (or a formula for setting one), transportation arrangements, each parent's right of access to school, medical, and other records, a designation of which parent has the majority of parenting time (relevant for school enrollment and other purposes), a 60-day advance notice requirement before a parent changes residence, and a mediation provision for future disagreements.

Can personal information be left out of the parenting plan for safety reasons?

Yes. Illinois law allows certain personal information, like a parent's address, to be omitted or restricted from the plan when there's evidence of domestic violence or abuse, so the filing requirement doesn't force disclosure that could put someone at risk.

Illinois, United States

Illinois Parenting Plans: What Parents Need to Know

Why Illinois requires a written parenting plan in every case, what 750 ILCS 5/602.10 says it must cover, the 120-day filing deadline, and how it relates to the allocation of parental responsibilities.

Legal sources reviewed: August 11, 2026

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In short: Illinois requires every parent in an allocation of parental responsibilities case to file a written parenting plan, jointly or separately, within 120 days of the petition being served. 750 ILCS 5/602.10(f) spells out roughly 16 things the plan must address, from decision-making and the parenting time schedule to transportation, records access, and relocation notice. This isn't a best practice specific to Illinois, it's a statutory filing deadline every case has to meet.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice. For anything specific to your case, talk to a licensed Illinois family law attorney or use Illinois Legal Aid Online.

What an Illinois parenting plan needs to cover

Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10(f), a complete parenting plan generally addresses:

Decision-making responsibilities: how education, health care, religion, and extracurricular activity decisions get allocated between parents, jointly or by category.
The parenting time schedule: which days and nights the child spends with each parent, either a specific schedule or a formula for producing one. A custody schedule pattern like 2-2-3 or week on/week off is typically what fills in this piece.
Designation of majority parenting time: which parent, if either, is designated as having the majority of parenting time, relevant for school enrollment and other administrative purposes.
The child's residential address for school enrollment.
Transportation arrangements for exchanges between parents.
Each parent's contact information: residence address, phone number, and employment address and phone number (subject to withholding if there's evidence of domestic violence or abuse).
Access to records: each parent's right to see medical, dental, psychological, and school and extracurricular records directly, without going through the other parent.
Right of first refusal, if the parents want one, terms for offering the other parent care time before using a third-party caregiver.
Relocation notice: a requirement that a parent moving residences give at least 60 days' written notice to the other parent.
A mediation provision for resolving future disagreements about parenting time or decision-making without returning straight to court.
Any other provision that furthers the child's best interests or facilitates parental cooperation.

See what is a parenting plan for how these pieces generally fit together regardless of state, and how to build a holiday custody schedule for the holiday and special-occasion detail that isn't itemized separately in the statute but is worth addressing within the schedule.

The legal requirement

Illinois doesn't treat a parenting plan as optional paperwork. Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10(a), all parents, within 120 days after service or filing of any petition for allocation of parental responsibilities, must file with the court, either jointly or separately, a proposed parenting plan. Courts can extend that deadline for good cause, but there's no case where a plan simply isn't required. If parents agree, they can file one plan together; if they don't, each files their own, and the court weighs both when it decides the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. This mandatory-filing structure is part of what replaced Illinois's old "custody" and "visitation" framework in 2016, alongside the terminology change itself (see 750 ILCS 5/602.7).

How a parenting plan relates to the allocation judgment

The allocation of parental responsibilities is Illinois's equivalent of a custody order, the court's final ruling on decision-making authority and the parenting time schedule. The parenting plan is the document parents propose to get there: either an agreed plan both parents sign, which the court typically incorporates into the judgment largely as written, or competing plans the court considers before deciding the terms itself. A filed parenting plan is a proposal until the court acts on it; the allocation judgment is what's actually enforceable.

Reaching an agreed plan

Because Illinois expects a plan from every parent regardless of agreement, it's generally worth trying to reach a joint plan rather than filing separately and leaving the specifics to a judge. Mediation is a common path to an agreed plan, and many Illinois circuit courts either require or strongly encourage a mediation attempt before a contested hearing on parenting time. An agreed plan that both parents sign and file jointly is usually faster to get approved and gives parents more control over the day-to-day details than a plan a court imposes after weighing two separate proposals.

Building the actual schedule

Once the required categories are settled, an OnePage parenting plan generator or custody schedule generator can help draft the specific written schedule to bring into mediation or attach to a filed plan, and the Illinois Legal Aid Online Parenting Plan Easy Form walks through the required court paperwork itself, including holidays and school breaks, in a guided interview format.

Official Illinois resources

FAQ

Questions, answered

This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Family law varies by individual circumstances and may change over time. Consult a qualified attorney or appropriate official resource for advice about your situation.