Decision-making responsibility means a parent’s responsibility for making significant decisions about a child’s well-being. This includes the child’s: health education culture, language, religion and spirituality, and significant extra-curricular activities. One or both spouses can have decision-making responsibility. Sometimes the spouses will have decision-making responsibilities about the same things, and sometimes they will have decision-making responsibility about different things. The spouses can agree on decision-making responsibilities and put what they agree on in a parenting plan or consent order. If the spouses cannot agree, the court will decide in a parenting order. All decisions must be made in the best interests of the child, not what the spouses want. Last updated: March 2021