Maine

Maine Parental Rights and Responsibilities Order template

Maine abolished 'custody' terminology — the statute allocates 'parental rights and responsibilities' and provides for shared, sole, or allocated arrangements.

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The words Maine uses

Using the wrong vocabulary is the fastest way to look like you copied a form off the internet. In Maine:

• The document is called a Parental Rights and Responsibilities Order.
• Time with a child is contact.
• Decision-making authority is parental rights and responsibilities.
• Governing law: 19-A M.R.S. § 1653.

What goes in a Maine parental rights and responsibilities order

Decision-Making Authority

States which parent decides what, in the four areas courts ask about: education, non-emergency health care, religion, and extracurricular activities.

Parenting Schedule

The regular, repeating schedule — where the child sleeps each night. Courts want a schedule specific enough that a stranger could read it and know where the child is tonight.

Holidays and School Breaks

Holiday terms override the regular schedule. Alternating by odd and even years is the most common approach because it needs no negotiation each year.

Transportation and Exchanges

Where the handoff happens, who drives, and what happens when someone is late. Vague exchange terms are the single most common source of repeat conflict.

Communication

How the parents talk to each other, and how the child reaches the parent they're not with. Many states expect the plan to name the method and the response time.

Relocation

What happens if a parent wants to move. Most states impose their own notice requirements and distance thresholds on top of whatever the plan says.

Dispute Resolution

The step both parents take before going back to court. Several states require a plan to name one.

Children's Expenses

How costs beyond child support get split and reimbursed. Child support itself is set by your state's guidelines and is not part of this document.

Schedules that work in Maine

Other states