Home › Guides › Florida Parenting Plan Form 12.995(a)

Florida Parenting Plan Form 12.995(a): Every Section Explained

Reviewed by the Amicably document team · Updated August 25, 2026

Form 12.995(a), the Parenting Plan, is the Florida Supreme Court form that records how you and the other parent will share responsibility, time, and decisions for your children after the divorce. It runs 18 pages and covers six required areas, from parental responsibility down to how you will communicate, and both parents sign it under oath before it can be filed.

Who has to file this form

Form 12.995(a) applies only when a divorce involves a minor or dependent child, including when a spouse is pregnant at filing even though the child is not born yet. It is not part of every Florida divorce, and it is route-specific: Simplified Dissolution never includes it, because that package is only available when there are no children and no pregnancy involved. A standard Uncontested divorce with no children does not include it either. The parenting plan belongs to Amicably's Uncontested-with-Children package, filed alongside the petition, the UCCJEA affidavit, the financial affidavits, the child support worksheet, and the marital settlement agreement.

The form itself is required in every case with time-sharing to decide, even one where the parents agree on the schedule down to the last detail. Agreement does not remove the requirement; it just means the plan you file is one you both signed off on rather than one the court had to write for you.

The form's sections at a glance

Form 12.995(a) opens with checkboxes marking the plan's status, then works through six substantive areas before ending with both parents' sworn signatures. Here is what each part of the 18 pages actually asks for.

The form's instructions tell you to delete or strike through any paragraph that does not apply to your family rather than leave it blank, so a properly finished plan should read as specific to your case, not as a generic template with gaps.

Plan type and case information

The first page asks the court to identify what kind of plan it is looking at before reading any of the substance. Checkboxes mark whether the plan is agreed between the parents, proposed by one parent for the court to consider, or already established by the court, and separately whether it is a final plan, a temporary one while the case is pending, or a modification of an existing order. In an uncontested case with children, this is almost always an agreed, final plan filed with the petition.

Parental responsibility and decision-making

Florida recognizes two main ways to share parental responsibility, and the form asks you to pick one.

A middle option lets a plan stay shared overall while giving one parent final say over a single category, such as school choice, without moving the whole plan to sole responsibility. Whichever structure fits your family, it is a choice the two of you make. Amicably records the election you give us; we do not default a legal choice like this one for you.

The time-sharing schedule

This is usually the longest part of the form. It asks for the regular schedule during the school year, then separate provisions for holidays, school breaks, and summer, written with actual days, times, and pickup or drop-off details rather than phrases like "reasonable time-sharing." A schedule with real dates is easier for both parents to follow and less likely to raise questions at the final hearing than a vague one.

The Child Support Guidelines Worksheet uses this same schedule to calculate each parent's overnights, so the time-sharing section here and the numbers on the worksheet need to match.

School, health care, and communication

Three shorter sections follow the schedule. School designation states which parent's address the district uses for enrollment and who handles school records and conferences. Health care designates who makes medical, dental, and mental health decisions and confirms both parents can get records directly from providers. Communication sets the method and expected frequency for both parent-to-parent and parent-to-child contact, which matters most for exchanges and any time the child is with the other parent for an extended stretch.

Travel, transportation, and other provisions

The travel section covers notice and consent for trips, including any terms about out-of-state travel or a child's passport. A transportation and exchange section states who drives, where exchanges happen, and what happens if a parent is running late. A final "other provisions" area exists for anything specific to your family that the standard sections do not capture, again with the instruction to strike anything that does not apply rather than leave it blank.

Signing and notarization

Both parents sign a certification that they have been open and honest in completing the plan, and both signatures must be sworn before a notary public or a deputy clerk. The form's jurat has no built-in checkbox for remote notarization, but Florida law separately allows Remote Online Notarization, which is why Amicably's guided video notarization session can take this signature along with the rest of your packet. The original signed plan is filed with the clerk in the county where the petition was filed; keep a copy for yourself.

From draft to final judgment

1. DraftEach parent answers the same set of questions on responsibility, schedule, and decision-making, and Amicably merges the answers into one completed Form 12.995(a).
2. ReviewA specialist checks the plan for completeness, including the school, health, and communication sections, before it goes to signing.
3. Sign and notarizeBoth parents sign under oath in a guided video notarization session.
4. FileThe signed original goes in with the rest of your packet through Florida's e-filing portal, with step-by-step guidance and confirmation once the court accepts it.
5. Final hearingThe plan is confirmed at the short hearing and becomes part of the final judgment, Form 12.990(b)(1).

Why clerks send plans back

• Blank instead of struck through. A paragraph that does not apply should be deleted or struck through, not left empty.
• Vague schedule language. "Every other weekend" without a fixed starting date and pickup time reads as incomplete rather than specific.
• A missing signature or notarization. Both parents' signatures must be sworn before a notary or deputy clerk; one blank signature block stops the filing.
• Filing a copy instead of the original. The clerk expects the original signed plan; keep your own copy separately.
• A schedule that does not match the support worksheet. The overnights used to calculate child support should reflect the same schedule written into the plan.

Form 12.995(a) is the standard plan for an agreed, uncontested case. Two related forms exist for situations this one is not built for: Form 12.995(b) for supervised or safety-focused time-sharing, and Form 12.995(c) when a parent is relocating. If either applies to your family, that is a different form and, often, a conversation worth having with a lawyer first.

Frequently asked questions