Do I Have to Use a Co-Parenting App?
This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. Court rules and procedures can change. A qualified attorney can advise you about your situation.
You must use a co-parenting app when a current court order requires it, and an agreement may also set one as the communication method. Without such a term, whether an app is required depends on local law and later court orders.
Check the exact wording of the order
Parenting plans can name the methods parents must use to communicate. Florida’s official parenting-plan form, for example, lets parents or the court identify in-person, telephone, letter, email, or another specified method (Florida Courts — Parenting Plan form 12.995(a)). Read every term of your current order before choosing a communication method. This general page cannot tell you what to do in an emergency or under a contact restriction.
Available apps, payment, access to records, and enforcement vary by jurisdiction and order. Use the state directory to locate local rules and ask the court about procedure if the ordered service is unavailable or inaccessible.
Read Communicating When It’s Hard for ways to keep app messages short and focused.
Part of Communicating When It's Hard.