Parenting Calendar Settings: Schedules, Exchanges, and Sharing

Parenting Calendar is the settings screen behind the Calendar tab. It holds your custody rotation, the places where exchanges happen, the default exchange time, links for other calendar apps, and the switches that decide what your coparent can add or propose. Children and the parenting plan itself live elsewhere; see How to set up your children, parenting plan, and custody schedule.

Open the Parenting Calendar settings

1. On Home, tap Settings below your dashboard tools.
2. Under SHARED LOGISTICS, tap Parenting Calendar.

You can also tap the Settings icon at the top of the Calendar tab. If Settings is hard to find, read Where to find every setting in BestInterest.

The screen is a list of uppercase sections. Solo Mode shows DISPLAY, PARENTING SCHEDULES, SHARE CALENDAR, and NOTIFICATIONS. Collaborative Mode adds EXCHANGE LOCATIONS, SCHEDULE CHANGES, and SCHEDULE REQUESTS.

Set the week start and timezone

Under DISPLAY:

1. Tap Week starts on and choose Sunday or Monday. This changes the month grid for you only.
2. Under Default Timezone, tap the Select family timezone field and pick a zone. The help text reads “Used for calendar event times when a parent is traveling.” The timezone is stored on the family, so both parents see the same one. You can clear it to fall back to your device timezone unless an active guided custody plan uses it; while a plan is active, the family timezone cannot be changed or cleared.

Add a custody schedule

The + beside PARENTING SCHEDULES opens the schedule builder. The same builder opens from the Calendar tab when you tap + and choose Parenting Schedule.

1. On the Choose a Schedule step, pick a base rotation. The cards are Alternating Weeks, 2-2-5-5 Rotation, 2-2-3 Rotation, 3-4-4-3 Rotation, Every Extended Weekend, 4-3 Schedule, Every Other Weekend, and 1st, 3rd & 5th Weekends. Each card has a one-line description of the pattern.

2. On Configure Schedule, answer When should the schedule start? with a date, then Who has parenting time on that date by tapping your name or your coparent’s name.
3. Tap Preview Schedule. The Preview step shows the first week and who each day belongs to.
4. Tap Create Schedule. In Collaborative Mode the button reads Send Schedule Proposal instead, and the schedule waits for your coparent to approve it.

If your court order adds a fixed weekly block on top of the rotation, such as a Wednesday dinner, tap Additional Parenting Time on the first step. That form takes a Frequency, a Time Each Day, a Series Start Date, an Ongoing switch or Series End Date, and the Responsible Parent. After you save, a Remaining Gaps panel tells you which days are still uncovered; tap Fill Gaps to add another block or Done for Now.

Tap My schedule isn’t listed if none of the rotations fit. It asks for the closest reason and does not collect schedule details.

Manage the schedules you already have

Each saved schedule appears as a card under PARENTING SCHEDULES with a status chip: Active, Pending, Rejected, Expired, Cancelled, or Deletion Requested. Rotation cards also have a Preview chip that shows the pattern on a month grid.

• An amber banner reading “Your schedule has gaps on:” lists any weekdays no schedule covers. Add a schedule to cover them.
• A card that overlaps another active schedule shows a warning. Delete or update one of them so custody days stay clear.
• In Collaborative Mode a proposal from your coparent shows Approve and Decline chips. A proposal you sent shows Cancel Request. Discuss opens a message to your coparent.
• An approved schedule shows Request Deletion; in Collaborative Mode your coparent then sees Approve Deletion and the schedule stays until they confirm. A pending proposal you sent shows Cancel Request, and a received proposal shows Approve and Decline. A rejected schedule you created shows Delete and is removed immediately.

Add exchange locations

This section appears in Collaborative Mode only.

1. Tap + beside EXCHANGE LOCATIONS.
2. In the Add Exchange Location sheet, type a Location Name (for example, School parking lot) and an optional Address (optional).
3. Tap Add Location.

Your coparent approves the location before it becomes Active; until then the row reads Pending Coparent Approval. Deleting an approved location also needs your coparent’s approval. If the + is missing, one of you has turned off Allow Shared Calendar (see below).

Set the default exchange time and review history

Under SCHEDULE CHANGES (Collaborative Mode only):

• Default Exchange Time is the handoff time for custody exchanges and the starting time for a new schedule change request. It defaults to 6:00 PM until you set one. Tap the row to pick a time or clear it. This value is shared by both parents.
• If your family tracks overnights, a banner above the tile reads “You have N extra nights” or “You owe N nights”.
• Schedule Change History opens the Schedule Changes screen, where you approve, decline, or remove trade requests.
• Calendar History opens a log of schedule, event, trade, and exchange-location updates, including requests you blocked.

For the complete request, approval, withdrawal, and removal flow, see Request and manage parenting schedule changes.

Subscribe from Google Calendar or Apple Calendar

Under SHARE CALENDAR:

1. Tap Share Calendar.
2. In the Choose calendar details dialog, tap Shared only or Include private. A Full Calendar link with private content includes your private event and task titles, dates, locations, and descriptions, and anyone with the link can read them.
3. Two links appear: Full Calendar and Custody Schedule Only. Tap the Copy link icon beside the one you want; the app confirms “Link copied to clipboard”.
4. In Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or any iCal app, use the Subscribe to calendar or Add by URL option and paste the link.

Custody Schedule Only carries just the rotation, which makes it safe to hand to a grandparent or caregiver. Tap Unshare Calendar to disable both links; anyone subscribed stops receiving updates, and you can share again at any time.

This section also works in Solo Mode.

Control what your coparent can add

Under NOTIFICATIONS:

• Allow Shared Calendar (“Share events, schedules, exchanges, and trades”) is on by default. Turning it off stops new shared events, schedules, exchange locations, and trades from being created by either parent. Everything already on the calendar stays visible to both of you.
• Notify me about new calendar events (“Get a system message when your coparent adds an event”) is off by default and only switches on in Collaborative Mode.

Under SCHEDULE REQUESTS (Collaborative Mode only):

• Block Parenting Schedule Requests stops your coparent from proposing parenting schedules and schedule changes. If requests are still waiting for your answer, a Block Parenting Schedule Requests? dialog tells you how many will close and that Calendar History will record the block. Tap Block Requests to confirm. While the block is on, your coparent sees “Schedule requests unavailable” when they try to propose, with a Discuss shortcut into Messages.