The New Hampshire parenting plan form is NHJB-2064-F, a free document from the New Hampshire Judicial Branch that every parent in a divorce, legal separation, or parenting case must complete and file with the Circuit Court Family Division. You can download it from the Judicial Branch website or pick up a paper copy at any courthouse. Once a judge approves it, the plan becomes part of the final court decree and covers decision-making, where the children live, the parenting schedule, transportation, communication, and relocation.
Documents You File With the Plan
The parenting plan does not stand alone. A complete parenting action in New Hampshire includes several documents filed together, and gathering them before you start saves return trips to the clerk’s window:
- A parenting petition — either a Joint Parenting Petition (NHJB-2390-F) if both parents are filing together, or an individual Parenting Petition (NHJB-2061-F). Filing jointly avoids the cost of formal service.
- Personal Data Sheet (NHJB-2077-F).
- Parenting Plan (NHJB-2064-F).
- A Financial Affidavit from each parent.
- Decree on Parenting Petition.
- Uniform Support Order.
- Child Support Guidelines Worksheet.
- Child Impact Seminar certificate for both parents. RSA 458-D:9 requires completion before the case can be finalized. Online versions run about four hours.
If you file an individual petition rather than a joint one, the other parent has to be notified — through pickup at the court, certified mail, or the sheriff.
Header: Children, Case Number, and Addresses
The top of NHJB-2064-F asks for each child’s full legal name and date of birth, the case number the court assigned when you filed the petition, and the county. Match the names and dates to the petition exactly. Clerks cross-check them, and any mismatch delays processing.
When the parents will share joint decision-making, the form also requires the street address of each parent. There are exceptions: a history of domestic violence or stalking, or a court finding that disclosing the address is not in the child’s best interest.
Section A: Decision-Making Responsibility
Section A covers the big calls: education, non-emergency health and dental care, and religious training. Day-to-day choices — meals, bedtime — belong to whichever parent is caring for the child at the moment.
You pick one of two structures:
- Joint decision-making, where both parents share authority over major decisions. New Hampshire law presumes this arrangement serves the child’s best interest, so the court starts there unless someone shows a reason to depart.
- Sole decision-making, where one named parent has exclusive authority.
A history of domestic abuse works against joint decision-making, and the court will build an arrangement that protects the children and the abused parent.
Extracurricular Activities
An “Other Provisions” field sits under decision-making. Use it. Silence here is what sends parents back to court over travel soccer and piano lessons. A workable approach is to give one parent final say on activities — often the same parent who holds education authority — while requiring discussion first, and to set a per-activity cost above which both parents must agree.
Section B: Residential Responsibility and Parenting Schedule
This is the longest and most contested part of the form. New Hampshire requires a detailed schedule showing when each parent has residential responsibility and when each has non-residential parenting time.
The form is emphatic on one point: neither parent may be described as having the child “reside primarily” with them, as having “primary residential responsibility,” or as having “custody,” and neither parent may be designated the “primary residential parent.” The statute bans those labels. You describe the actual schedule instead.
Routine Schedule
The routine schedule is the week-to-week default. Lay out which days, times, and overnights the child spends with each parent in a normal week. Be specific. “Every other weekend” invites arguments about which weekend counts. Pin the schedule to calendar dates or a repeating pattern, for example: Week 1 with Parent A Monday through Thursday and Parent B Friday through Sunday; Week 2 reversed.
Holidays, Birthdays, and Three-Day Weekends
The form offers three approaches to holidays: skip a holiday schedule and let the routine schedule control, agree to divide holidays without specifics, or work through a detailed holiday-by-holiday plan. Under the detailed option, the form lists Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and birthdays, with space to fill in who has the children and the start and end times. Any holiday you do not check and describe defaults to the routine schedule.
Three-day weekends get a separate subsection. You can skip it, extend the weekend-parent’s normal time, or describe each long weekend individually.
Vacation Schedule
Separate fields handle December break, February vacation, April vacation, and summer. For summer, decide how far in advance each parent must give notice of vacation plans. A two- or four-week notice window is common and heads off last-minute conflicts.
Supervised Parenting Time
If one parent’s time has to be supervised because of substance abuse concerns, a violence history, or a court order, this subsection describes who supervises, where visits happen, and what conditions must be met before supervision can end.
Section D: Transportation and Exchanges
Specify how the children move between homes, where exchanges happen, and who pays for transportation. A neutral meeting point — a school, a police station parking lot, a halfway gas station — prevents driveway confrontations that turn into contempt motions. If one parent drives every time, address whether the other contributes to gas or mileage.
Section E: Communication and Information Sharing
Section E covers two things: what information flows between parents, and how the non-scheduled parent contacts the child.
Both parents are entitled to the child’s school records, medical records, and government records regardless of who the child is with at any given moment. The form has checkboxes confirming that access. If a protective order or similar restriction limits one parent’s access, note the exception here.
For parent-child contact, describe telephone access — how often and at what times — along with written or email contact. Unlimited calls during dinner and homework breeds resentment; blocking all contact breeds contempt motions. Set boundaries that both parents can live with.
Section F: Relocation
Under RSA 461-A:12, once a parenting case is filed, a parent cannot relocate the child without a court order unless one of these exceptions applies:
- The move brings the parents closer together.
- The move is within the child’s current school district.
- The move is necessary to protect the safety of the parent or child, subject to later court review.
If the move takes the child farther from the other parent or changes the school enrollment, the relocating parent must give reasonable notice. The statute presumes 60 days is reasonable unless the parents have agreed otherwise in writing or the court finds other factors at play. This section is where you acknowledge those rules and, if you want, set a different notice period by agreement.
Sections G and H: Plan Review and Dispute Resolution
Section G asks how often you will review the plan. A schedule that works for a toddler will not work for a teenager with a part-time job. You can set annual or biannual reviews, or agree to revisit the plan when a triggering event occurs, such as a change in work schedule, a child starting school, or a move.
Section H asks how you will resolve disputes before returning to court. The form contemplates three steps: work it out directly, use a neutral third party such as a mediator or parenting coordinator, then petition the court. Judges look favorably on parents who tried mediation before filing a motion.
Section I: Additional Agreements
The final section is a catch-all. Common additions:
- Right of first refusal. If the scheduled parent cannot care for the child during their time, that parent must offer the time to the other parent before calling a sitter or a relative. Specify the trigger, meaning how many hours of absence activates the obligation, and the response window.
- Health insurance and medical costs. Name which parent carries the child on insurance, and set a percentage split for uninsured expenses like co-pays, orthodontia, and therapy. A percentage is cleaner than vague language about sharing costs “equally.”
- Military deployment. If either parent serves, address what happens to the schedule during deployment or training. Service members can request a stay of custody proceedings under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which provides an automatic 90-day delay on written request, with discretionary extensions available.
Where to File and What It Costs
File the completed parenting plan and accompanying documents with the Circuit Court Family Division in the county where the child lives. The filing fee for a new parenting matter or divorce with minor children is $282.
If you cannot afford the fee, file a Motion to Reduce or Eliminate Filing Fees and/or Costs along with a Financial Affidavit. Submit the motion with your case to avoid delays.
For in-person or mail filing, bring or send the originals to the court clerk. Some Family Division filings can be started through TurboCourt, the Judicial Branch’s guided online interview, though availability varies by case type and court location. Check the Judicial Branch electronic services page for current options before assuming online filing is available for your case.
What the Judge Does With Your Plan
A judge reviews the parenting plan against the best-interest-of-the-child standard in RSA 461-A:6, weighing factors that include each parent’s relationship with the child, each parent’s ability to provide a safe and stable home, the child’s adjustment to school and community, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent. A history of abuse carries heavy weight.
If both parents agree on every provision, the judge may approve the plan without a hearing. The court is not rubber-stamping it, though. A plan that looks one-sided or ignores the child’s needs can be rejected even when both parents signed.
If the parents disagree on any section, the court schedules a hearing and may order mediation first. At the hearing, each parent presents evidence and testimony, and the judge decides the open issues. The approved plan, once signed, becomes part of the court decree, and violations are enforceable through contempt proceedings.
Changing the Plan Later
Parenting plans can be modified under RSA 461-A:11, but not casually. Both parents can agree to changes and present them to the court. Absent agreement, the statute identifies specific grounds, including repeated intentional interference with the other parent’s residential time, a detrimental environment proven by clear and convincing evidence, a substantial change in a parent’s work schedule, a significant change in distance between the parents, and a mature minor’s supported preference. Any modification outside those specific grounds requires proof that the child’s current situation is detrimental — a deliberately high bar meant to prevent parents from relitigating custody every time they are unhappy.