West Virginia law says that in most families, parents who are separated or divorced will have “shared parenting time.” That means each parent will have scheduled time with their children. The schedule usually has details like times, dates, places of child exchange, holiday rotation, and summer vacation. The goal for the judge is that the schedule will be in the children’s best interests.

When parents separate, the court will decide how the children will spend time with each parent. The parent who spends the majority of the time with the children will be designated as the primary residential parent. If the parents have a schedule in which each parent spends 50 percent of the time with the children, one parent will still need to be designated as the primary residential parent to comply with the law. If the parents do not agree on how the child’s time will be divided between each parent, a judge will make the decision.

Unless there is a court custody order, both parents of a child have equal rights to physical possession of a child. This is true even if the parties are not married to each other

The Family Court requires a Parenting Plan in all cases with children under age 18.

If the parents can agree on a Parenting Plan, they can submit a Joint Proposed Parenting Plan to the court.

If the parents cannot agree on a Joint Parenting Plan, either parent can submit an Individual Proposed Parenting Plan, and ask the court to enter a temporary order on parenting based on that Individual Plan.

If one parent wants to disagree with the other parent’s Individual Plan, that parent must submit an Individual Parenting Plan. When you file an individual plan, you must also file a Worksheet for Individual Proposed Parenting Plan form. The Worksheet is used by the parent to explain to the court what percentage of the children’s activities the parent has participated in. All of these forms can be found on the West Virginia Supreme Court website.

If you and your child’s parent can reach an agreement, then you can sign a parenting plan together. This parenting plan is called a “joint parenting plan.” The judge will review the plan to make sure it is fair, workable and in the best interest of the children.

The Parenting Plan should explain where the children are going to be at all times. The whole schedule should include holidays, school, and summer vacation. The judge will attach your Parenting Plan to your final order. The judge can change the Parenting Plan if he or she believes another plan will be better for your children.

If you and the other parent cannot agree on how to share time with the children, the judge has to make a decision. Each parent should make their own proposed Parenting Plan. The judge might approve one parent’s plan and reject the other parent’s plan. The judge might decide on a different plan from what either parent submitted.

The judge looks at how you and your spouse handled childcare when you were living together. The judge looks at what amount of time each parent has spent with the children. The judge usually looks at the pattern of parenting in the year or two before the separation.

The judge will consider things like baths, meals, homework, babysitting, and shopping. Whoever has been doing those things should keep doing them. If the children’s dad took them to soccer practice before the separation, the judge would probably want dad to continue to take the children to practice after the separation. The court wants to keep the children’s lives as much the same as possible. The judge also tries to be fair.

After your final hearing, the parents will usually share the “decision-making responsibility.” This means that big decisions like education, medical care, and after school activities for the children should be shared. Sometimes the parents cannot agree on how to make these decisions together. In that case, the judge will decide which parent makes which types of decisions.

The Proposed Parenting Plan is probably the most important document you will give the judge in your case. The Family Court will rely on the Proposed Parenting Plan to decide custody and parenting time. Your children’s well-being depends on you doing a good job in making your Proposed Parenting Plan.

If you and the other parent agree and submit a Joint Plan, the court will hold a hearing. The Court will look at the plan to see if it could be harmful to the children in any way. The Court will make certain both parents agreed to the plan without being pressured and understood what they were signing. The court may approve the plan or make changes to it to create a plan that is best for the children

The judge wants parents to agree on a Joint Parenting Plan because it’s better for the children. So, if you and the other parent tell the court you have not tried to agree on a Joint Plan, or have tried and failed, the law requires the court to refer the two of you to a person called a Premediation Screener.

The Premediation Screener will interview you and the other parent separately. The Screener will decide if a Mediator can help the two of you come to an agreement on a Joint Parenting Plan. If the screener determines a Mediator may be able to help you agree, the court will refer the two of you to mediation. A Mediator is a neutral attorney trained to help people settle disagreements.

The Mediator will meet with you and the other parent together, listen to everything both of you have to say, and help you explore ways to agree on a Joint Parenting Plan. Mediation often helps the parents reach an agreement, and there is a good possibility the two of you can come out of mediation with a Joint Parenting Plan.

If mediation results in agreement on a Joint Parenting Plan, the Mediator will send that plan to the court, and the case will continue as if you and the other parent had agreed on a Joint Parenting Plan in the beginning.

If you don’t agree on a Joint Parenting Plan agreement at mediation, you and the other parent will return to court for one or more hearings. During those hearings, you and the other parent will have a chance to prove to the court why your Individual Plan should be accepted by the court. It is the court’s job to decide what’s best for your children. After hearing all of the evidence, the court will reach a decision.