Creating a Parenting Plan in Wyoming (2026 Guide): Shared Custody Law, Schedules & Court Requirements

A parenting plan in Wyoming is a written schedule and decision-making agreement that the district court incorporates into your divorce decree under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201. Since July 1, 2025, Wyoming law presumes shared custody — substantially equal time with both parents — unless a statutory exception applies. The custody filing fee is approximately $160, and you must meet a 60-day residency requirement.

Key Facts: Parenting Plans in Wyoming

Fees and procedures vary by county and change over time. As of March 2026, verify the current filing fee and required forms with your local District Court Clerk before filing.

What Is a Parenting Plan in Wyoming?

A parenting plan Wyoming courts will accept is a written document that defines legal custody, physical custody, and a detailed parenting time schedule for your children. Under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201(d), a Wyoming judge must order custody "in well defined terms to promote understanding and compliance by the parties." Your plan becomes a binding court order once the decree is signed.

Wyoming recognizes two separate components of custody. Legal custody grants a parent the authority to make major decisions about the child's education, medical care, religious upbringing, and general welfare. Physical custody determines where the child primarily lives and which parent provides day-to-day care. A court may award either component jointly, solely, or in any combination the judge finds serves the child's best interest. Because the 2025 shared-parenting law presumes joint legal and joint physical custody, most new Wyoming parenting plans now start from a baseline of substantially equal time and shared decision-making, then adjust the specifics to fit each family's work schedules, school calendar, and geography.

Wyoming's 2025 Shared Custody Presumption (SF0117)

Wyoming courts must presume shared custody — both joint legal custody and joint physical custody with substantially equal parenting time — for any custody action first filed on or after July 1, 2025. Senate File 0117 amended Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201 to create this presumption, replacing the prior framework in which judges had broad discretion to set any arrangement.

This 2025 reform is the single most important change affecting any custody agreement Wyoming families build today. The presumption directs courts to enter shared custody unless one of five statutory exceptions is proven. The exceptions are: (1) the parents have agreed in writing, signed by both, to a different arrangement; (2) a parent has been adjudged guilty of a crime involving domestic violence against the other parent; (3) a parent has been adjudged guilty of cruelty, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment of the children; (4) the parents no longer live within 300 miles of each other and a different physical custody arrangement is the only practical option; or (5) there is clear and convincing evidence that a different arrangement is in the children's best interest. The law applies only to new custody actions filed on or after July 1, 2025 — it does not automatically reopen older orders. If you want a co-parenting schedule that differs from 50/50, your parenting plan must document the agreement in writing and signed by both parents, which satisfies the first exception.

How Wyoming Courts Decide Best Interests

When the shared-custody presumption is challenged or a parenting plan is contested, Wyoming judges apply the best-interest factors in Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201(a). The statute lists a non-exhaustive set of factors, and courts may not prefer one parent as custodian solely because of gender. Evidence of spousal abuse or child abuse is treated as contrary to the children's best interest.

The statutory best-interest factors a Wyoming court weighs include the quality of the relationship each child has with each parent; the ability of each parent to provide adequate care throughout each period of responsibility, including arranging care by others when needed; the relative competency and fitness of each parent; each parent's willingness to accept all parenting responsibilities, including relinquishing care to the other parent at agreed times; how the parents and child can best maintain and strengthen their relationship; and how the parents and child communicate, plus how that communication can improve. Courts also consider the geographic distance between the parents' residences and any other factor the judge deems relevant. A strong parenting plan addresses each of these factors directly, showing the court that the proposed parenting time schedule supports the child's stability, education, and relationship with both parents.

Building a Parenting Time Schedule in Wyoming

A Wyoming parenting time schedule must specify exactly where the child stays on every day of the year, including school weeks, weekends, holidays, and summer break. Because the 2025 law presumes substantially equal time, many parents adopt week-on/week-off, 2-2-3, or 2-2-5-5 rotations. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201(d) requires the schedule be "well defined" so both parents can follow it without dispute.

When designing your co-parenting schedule, build it around three layers. First, the regular-week rotation determines the default residential pattern — for substantially equal time, a 50/50 split such as alternating weeks or a 2-2-3 cycle is common and aligns with the shared-custody presumption. Second, a holiday and special-day schedule overrides the regular rotation for events such as Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, the Fourth of July, and each parent's birthday; most Wyoming plans alternate major holidays by even and odd years. Third, a summer schedule addresses extended parenting time when school is out, often allowing each parent one or two uninterrupted weeks of vacation with advance written notice. A clear visitation schedule also sets exchange times and locations, transportation responsibility, and a right of first refusal if a parent needs childcare for a defined number of hours. Detailing each layer reduces conflict and gives the court a plan it can readily approve.

Decision-Making and Records Access

A Wyoming parenting plan must allocate major decision-making authority over the child's education, healthcare, religion, and extracurricular activities. Under the shared-custody presumption in Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201, joint legal custody is the default, meaning both parents share these decisions. The statute also guarantees the noncustodial parent equal access to the child's records.

For joint legal custody to function, your custody agreement Wyoming families rely on should spell out how disagreements are resolved — for example, requiring the parents to confer, then attend mediation before returning to court. The plan can designate one parent to make final decisions in a specific area (such as medical care) if the parents reach an impasse, while keeping the rest joint. On records, Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201 provides that, unless the court orders otherwise, the parent without primary physical custody has the same right of access as the custodial parent to all records relating to the child, including school records, teacher conferences, activities, medical and dental providers, and mental health records. Your parenting plan should reaffirm this right and require each parent to share schools, providers, and emergency contacts. Wyoming courts may also order parents to attend parenting classes to lessen the effects of divorce on children.

Filing Your Parenting Plan With the Court

You file your parenting plan as part of your divorce or custody case in the District Court of the county where you or your spouse resides. The custody filing fee is approximately $160 (county schedules range from $70 to $160), and you must have lived in Wyoming for 60 consecutive days under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-107. Wyoming imposes a 20-day waiting period after the complaint is filed.

The filing process generally follows these steps. First, confirm you meet the 60-day residency requirement; if the marriage occurred in Wyoming, continuous residence from the marriage to filing also qualifies. Second, file a Complaint for Divorce (or a custody petition) in district court and pay the filing fee, or submit an Affidavit of Indigency to request a fee waiver if you cannot afford it. Third, serve the other parent and wait the mandatory 20-day period. Fourth, if both parents agree, submit a signed, written parenting plan — this written agreement also satisfies the first SF0117 exception, allowing a non-50/50 arrangement. If the parents disagree, the court applies the shared-custody presumption and the best-interest factors, and may order mediation. The Wyoming Judicial Branch publishes self-help divorce forms at wyocourts.gov. As of March 2026, confirm the current fee and accepted forms with your county District Court Clerk, because amounts and local rules vary.

Modifying a Wyoming Parenting Plan

Wyoming courts may modify a parenting plan only when there is a material change in circumstances since the last order and modification serves the child's best interest under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-204. The statute sets a two-part test, and the "material change" requirement is jurisdictional — a court cannot reach the best-interest question until that threshold is met.

Common material changes include a parent's relocation, a substantial change in work schedule, remarriage, or a child's evolving developmental needs. Under Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-204, a custodial parent's repeated, unreasonable refusal to allow court-ordered visitation may itself count as evidence of a material change. Wyoming requires either parent to give at least 30 days' advance notice before moving to a different city or state, giving the other parent time to seek a modification. Relocation does not automatically change custody: the Wyoming Supreme Court in Arnott v. Arnott (2012) held that relocation and its derivative effects — such as the difficulties added by greater geographic distance — may constitute a material change warranting a best-interest review, but the court still must analyze whether changing the arrangement actually benefits the child. Modifications are also subject to the special military-duty rules in Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-205.

Wyoming Parenting Plan: Schedule Comparison

Any arrangement that is not substantially equal time must either be agreed in writing and signed by both parents or justified under one of the five statutory exceptions in Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-201.