An Act To Require Parenting Plans To Be Timely Filed
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0864
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: HASKELL, MOONEN, DIAMOND
Amends: 19-A MRSA §1653, 19-A MRSA §1660

Legislative Document 
No. 864 
S.P. 309 
In Senate, March 12, 2015 
An Act To Require Parenting Plans To Be Timely Filed 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator HASKELL of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative MOONEN of Portland and 
Senator: DIAMOND of Cumberland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§2, ¶D, as amended by PL 2009, c. 345, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
D.  The order of the court awarding parental rights and responsibilities must include 
the following: 
(1)  Allocated parental rights and responsibilities, shared parental rights and 
responsibilities or sole parental rights and responsibilities, according to the best 
interest of the child as provided in subsection 3.  An award of shared parental 
rights and responsibilities may include either an allocation of the child's primary 
residential care to one parent and rights of parent-child contact to the other 
parent, or a sharing of the child's primary residential care by both parents.  If 
either or both parents request an award of shared primary residential care and the 
court does not award shared primary residential care of the child, the court shall 
state in its decision the reasons why shared primary residential care is not in the 
best interest of the child; 
(2)  Conditions of parent-child contact in cases involving domestic abuse as 
provided in subsection 6; 
(3)  A provision for child support as provided in subsection 8 or a statement of 
the reasons for not ordering child support; 
(4)  A statement that each parent must have access to records and information 
pertaining to a minor child, including, but not limited to, medical, dental and 
school records and other information on school activities, whether or not the 
child resides with the parent, unless that access is found not to be in the best 
interest of the child or that access is found to be sought for the purpose of causing 
detriment to the other parent. If that access is not ordered, the court shall state in 
the order its reasons for denying that access; 
(5)  A statement that violation of the order may result in a finding of contempt 
and imposition of sanctions as provided in subsection 7;  
(6)  A statement of the definition of shared parental rights and responsibilities 
contained in section 1501, subsection 5, if the order of the court awards shared 
parental rights and responsibilities; and 
(7)  If the court appoints a parenting coordinator pursuant to section 1659, a 
parenting plan defining areas of parental rights and responsibilities within the 
scope of the parenting coordinator’s authority. 
(8)  A parenting plan as required under section 1660. 
An order modifying a previous order is not required to include provisions of the 
previous order that are not modified. 
Sec. 2.  19-A MRSA §1660 is enacted to read: 
§1660.  Parenting plan 
1.  Parenting plan required.  When issuing an order establishing or modifying 
parental rights and responsibilities, the court shall include in the order a parenting plan.  
When making a parenting plan, the court shall apply the standard of the best interest of 
the child as described in section 1653, subsection 3. 
A.  The court shall incorporate into a temporary order a temporary parenting plan that 
applies during the course of the litigation. 
B.  The court shall incorporate into the final parental rights and responsibilities order 
a permanent parenting plan. 
2.  Proposed parenting plans.  Each party shall submit, either individually or 
jointly: 
A.  A temporary or permanent parenting plan prior to mediation; and 
B.  A permanent parenting plan prior to the pretrial conference or judicial settlement 
conference. 
3.  Contents of parenting plan.  The parenting plan must include: 
A.  Allocation of residential contact, either sole, shared or allocated, and an 
explanation of the choice; 
B.  A schedule of parent-child contact that includes at least the following: 
(1)  Day-to-day contact, including rights of contact over the phone and by 
electronic means; 
(2)  Holiday contact, including Monday holidays, Easter, July 4th, Veteran's Day, 
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day or other important 
cultural or religious holidays; 
(3)  School vacation contact, including winter break, February break, April break 
and summer school recesses; and 
(4)  Family holidays, reunions and the child's birthdays; 
C.  Allocation of decision-making authority, including a default method for conflict 
resolution in the areas of education; medical care, including mental health care; 
religion; discipline; and child care; 
D.  A process for resolving disputes without court action, which may include 
counseling, mediation or arbitration by a specified individual or agency, or court 
action; 
E.  A method for parental communication and what information needs to be 
communicated; and  
F.  A provision for how the plan will be revisited and how frequently. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the requirement that courts incorporate a parenting plan into any 
order that addresses parental rights and responsibilities.  Each party must submit a 
temporary or permanent parenting plan prior to mediation, or the parties may submit a 
temporary or permanent parenting plan jointly.  The court shall incorporate a temporary 
parenting plan into any order issued during the parental rights and responsibilities 
litigation, and that parenting plan applies until a final order is issued.  Each party must 
submit a permanent parenting plan prior to the pretrial conference or the judicial 
settlement conference, or the parties may submit a permanent parenting plan jointly.  The 
court shall incorporate a permanent parenting plan into the final judgment. 
The parenting plan must address each parent's specific responsibilities for the child, 
as well as establish both a decision-making mechanism and dispute resolution method for 
issues not specifically covered or about which the parents cannot agree.