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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.rytz.com.au/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This page walks you through your first 30 minutes in the Parenting Planner. By the end, you’ll have a solid first draft you can come back to, refine, and eventually export. You don’t need to draft all 11 clauses today. The point is to make confident progress on the highest-leverage parts.
Before you start: make sure your Master Case File is set up (see Setting up your case file). You’ll need at minimum: your full name, the other party’s full name, and the children’s first names + ages. Filing details (addresses, DOBs, witness info) can come later.

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Minute 0–2 — Set the parties + children

Open the Parenting Planner. The first thing you’ll see at the top is the Parties to this plan card. If it shows your full names (“Sarah Williams and James Williams, concerning Lucy (age 6) and Tom (age 8)”), you’re set. If it shows placeholders (“You and Other parent”), click Edit and fill in:
  • Your first + last name
  • The other party’s first + last name
  • Each child: first name + current age
Click Save. The Plan Readiness Ribbon below should update — you’ll see the first three checks (your full name, other party’s full name, children named) flip from amber to green.

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Minute 2–7 — Clause 2: Live with / spend time with

This is where most parenting plans get stuck — so we tackle it first while you’re fresh. Click the §2 tab in the navigator (or Up next in the readiness ribbon if it points here). Three structural choices to make:
1

Primary residence

The default of “shared” usually applies. Pick the option that best describes the day-to-day reality (the children live primarily with one parent / on a shared basis).
2

The week pattern

The calendar lets you assign each day Mon–Sun to User / Other / Shared. If your week is fortnightly (Week A different from Week B), toggle “Alternating weeks” and set both.
3

The Christmas / January block

The single most-disputed clause in every parenting matter. Common patterns:
  • Alternating odd/even — User gets Christmas Eve to 28 December in odd years, Other gets it in even years
  • Halved — each parent has the children for one half of the holiday block, alternating each year
The structured editor handles the legal phrasing once you pick a pattern.
Click Save clause when you’re happy with the routine.

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Minute 7–12 — Clause 1: Parental responsibility

Click the §1 tab. For most matters where there’s no FV history, the default of joint parental responsibility is the right starting point. This means both parents share decisions on major long-term issues (health, education, religion, name, relocation). Two optional customisations to consider:
1

Carve-outs (the 'mixed' option)

If you’ve agreed that one parent has final say on a specific issue (e.g. religious upbringing if the other parent is non-religious), use the Carve-outs section to record it. Each carve-out has a topic + an allocation (User / Other / joint).
2

Day-to-day and consultation matters

The editor pre-loads sensible defaults for what counts as “day-to-day” (decided by the parent caring for the children at the time, no consultation) and “non-major matters requiring consultation” (extracurriculars, sleepovers, vaccinations). Add or remove items based on what your matter actually needs.
Save clause when done.

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Minute 12–17 — Clause 4: Changeover

Click the §4 tab. Three things to capture:
1

A specific public location

Tier-1 firms always recommend a public, neutral location — McDonald’s car park, Westfield, school pickup, a children’s contact centre (high-conflict matters). Pick from the chip suggestions or type your own. Avoid either parent’s home.
2

A specific time + mode

“Friday 5pm school pickup, Sunday 6pm school dropoff” is good. “During the day on Saturday” is bad. Pick from the chip suggestions if a standard pattern matches yours.
3

A late-or-absent protocol

What happens if a parent is late or can’t make it? “Notify the other party by SMS within 15 minutes” is a common starting point. The chip suggestions cover the most common arrangements.
Save clause. The readiness ribbon should now show 4 of 11 clauses drafted.

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Minute 17–22 — Clause 3: Communication

Click the §3 tab. Four fields:
1

Channels

Select all that apply — phone, video call, SMS, email, co-parenting platform (e.g. Our Family Wizard, AppClose). Most plans pick 2–3.
2

Frequency per week

A concrete number. “At least 3 times per week” is much stronger than “as agreed”. Pick something realistic.
3

Initiator

Either parent / parent currently with the children / non-resident parent. The middle option is usually the cleanest because it removes ambiguity about who calls who.
4

Non-disparagement undertaking

The standard “neither parent will speak negatively about the other party in the children’s presence” clause. Default is on; we strongly recommend keeping it.
Save clause.

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Minute 22–27 — Clause 11: Review windows

Skip ahead to §11 — this clause builds on data from your Master Case File and pre-suggests review windows based on the children’s ages. The structured editor offers smart suggestions:
  • Sophia turns 12 on 15 March 2030 — review primary-to-secondary school transition
  • Two-year fixed checkpoint (3 May 2028)
  • Either parent proposes relocation > 50 km
Tick the suggestions that make sense for your family. You can also add custom review points. The legal point: section 65DAAA (in force from 6 May 2024) codifies the Rice v Asplund threshold for varying final parenting orders. Built-in review points anticipate that threshold rather than fighting it from cold every time. Save clause.

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Minute 27–30 — Look at the live preview

The right pane has been updating with everything you’ve drafted. Scroll through it. Read it as if you were the partner of a tier-1 family-law firm being asked to sign it off. Look for:
  • Anything that reads as vague — “reasonable contact”, “as agreed”, “during the day”. Replace with specifics.
  • Anything that doesn’t sound like you — the editor produces structured legal phrasing, but if a sentence reads off, change the underlying field and re-save.
  • Anything that conflicts — if clause 2 says shared 50/50 but clause 3 says non-resident parent initiates calls, that’s a small contradiction. Clean it up.
The preview is what your eventual PDF will look like.

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What’s next

You’ve covered the highest-leverage 5 clauses (out of 11). The remaining clauses are still important — but each one is simpler:
  • 5. Special occasions — birthdays, Mother’s/Father’s Day, religious + cultural festivals
  • 6. School — enrolment authority, who receives reports, extracurriculars
  • 7. Medical — routine vs major, Medicare card, emergency authority
  • 8. Travel — domestic notice, overseas consent, passport custody
  • 9. Relocation — distance trigger, notice period
  • 10. Dispute resolution — FDR provider, escalation ladder
Each takes about 5 minutes. Spread them across two more sittings. When you’re ready, the Plan Readiness page explains how the three completion tiers work and what each requires.

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A few don’t-do-this notes

  • Don’t try to finish in one sitting. These are decisions about your children’s lives. Sleep on them.
  • Don’t paste in text from another template you’ve found online. Most templates online are out of date (pre-2024 amendments) and use US/UK terminology that won’t track in an Australian court.
  • Don’t draft the FV safety overlay (clause 12) yourself if there’s serious FV history. Get specialist legal advice. The platform’s structured editor is a starting point, but FV matters are too consequential for self-serve only.

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Next

Plan Readiness

The three tiers, what each requires, and how the ribbon works.

Exporting and next steps

PDF, DOCX, Markdown — and what to do with the document once it’s drafted.