Keeping family records and documents in one place

Keep the key documents together

Parenting plans, agreements, and letters are often spread across email, paper files, and phone photos. Keeping them in one place means you can find the current version quickly.

Parenting Apart has a documents area organised into parenting plans, court orders, mediation, and documents about each child.

Let the history build as you go

The most useful record is one that builds up naturally: messages, schedules, handovers, decisions, and expenses kept together as they happen, rather than reconstructed from memory later.

• Agree arrangements in writing, even when they were first discussed in person
• Confirm changes to the schedule once they are settled
• Record expenses with receipts, and settlements once paid
• Keep decisions and their outcomes together

When you need a copy, Parenting Apart can export your communication record as a PDF or CSV for a date range and the content you choose. If a parenting plan is uploaded, a summary shows how schedules, communication, expenses, and travel have followed it.

Keep records current

Records are most useful when they reflect the arrangement as it stands today. A quick review every few months catches anything out of date.

• Replace old versions of plans and agreements when new ones are signed
• Check that each child's documents, such as medical letters, are still current
• Remove anything that no longer needs to be kept

Share only what a professional needs

A mediator, counsellor, or solicitor may ask for information. Give them what they ask for and no more, and keep a note of what you shared.

1. 1Ask the professional exactly what information would help.
2. 2Share the specific records they need, for the dates that matter.
3. 3Review what you are sharing before you send it.
4. 4Withdraw access once it is no longer needed.

In Parenting Apart you can add a professional and choose which records they can see. Before a session, a summary can bring together a communication overview, key exchanges, patterns, and items that are still unresolved.

Common questions