Calendar

The custody calendar shows the parenting schedule for the active pair. A schedule only appears once the pair has set one up, and both parents see the same calendar.

Set up a schedule

You set up the schedule from the calendar with Set up calendar. There are four ways to start: upload a parenting plan, paste a schedule, use guided setup, or enter the schedule by hand. Upload and paste read the pattern for you; guided and manual setup let you build it step by step. If an upload cannot be read, switch to guided or manual setup instead.

Custody patterns

A custody pattern is the repeating rhythm of parenting time, such as week-on/week-off or a 2-2-3 split. SharedAnchor turns the pattern into dated custody days so the calendar stays consistent from week to week.

Preview and confirm

Before a schedule goes live you see a preview. Preview calendars are for planning and can be adjusted before you save them. When the schedule looks right, choose Confirm schedule to make it the active calendar. Nothing is shared as the live schedule until it is confirmed.

Holiday and break rules

Holidays and school breaks are set up after the main schedule is saved, and they are never required for it. You can skip them and come back later.

If you uploaded or pasted a parenting plan, SharedAnchor drafts the holiday and school-break rules it found in that document. Nothing is saved from those drafts on its own. After the main schedule is saved you see a list of them, and you decide which ones to keep. You can also reach the list any time from the calendar's Holiday and Break Rules menu item, or from Review holiday and break rules on the screen where you check the schedule that was read from your plan.

Each rule shows its name, its date or date range, which parent has the children, and how often it repeats. A rule the plan stated clearly is ticked and marked ready. A rule the plan left unclear is marked Needs review and cannot be ticked until you fill in the missing part, usually the dates or which parent has the children. Use Edit to fix a rule, Remove to drop one, and Add manually to add a holiday or school break the document did not mention.

Choose Save confirmed rules when the list looks right. Only the ticked rules are saved, each as a court-ordered custody day. If one of them lands on dates already on your calendar, saving stops there and tells you which dates clash. The rules saved before it stay saved, so fixing the one that clashed and saving again picks up where it left off.

The name you give a rule is yours alone. Your co-parent sees the custody dates on the calendar but never the name, and never anything about the document you uploaded.

Overrides

Use an override when a single day differs from the usual pattern, for example a holiday or a one-off change. Open the day and edit it to record who has the child that day. An override changes only the day you edit; the repeating pattern stays the same, and the calendar keeps an auditable history of the change.

Day swaps

Use a swap request when you and your co-parent trade days. Open the swap form with Request swap; your co-parent can then choose Approve swap. Swap requests are tracked separately from the active schedule until they are handled, so a pending swap never quietly changes the live calendar. If a swap fails to save, retry; nothing changes until it is approved.

Child events

Child-specific events, such as a school or medical appointment, can appear alongside the custody days. Keep event titles simple and avoid putting unnecessary sensitive details in them. Some child events can be created from a forwarded school email; see the forwarded email intake help for how that works.

Reminders

The calendar can remind both parents about upcoming handoffs and events. Reminders never include sensitive details in the notification itself, so anyone glancing at a lock screen sees only that something is scheduled.

Export

On the web app you can export a readable or court-ready record of the schedule and its changes from the Insights or Reports area. Export is web-only; the exported record reflects the confirmed schedule and any overrides or approved swaps.