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Oregon Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Oregon information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.

Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Oregon Circuit Courts. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

  • For this route, an eligible parent starts the case in the Oregon Circuit Court for the county where the child resides or is found, or where either parent resides.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 109

How Oregon courts decide custody

Oregon law gives primary consideration to a minor child's best interests and welfare when determining custody under the statutes named in ORS 107.137.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 107

  • Oregon law lists relevant custody factors and says no one factor may be used to the exclusion of the others; the statute includes conditions for abuse and disability considerations.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 107

Key legal sources

Parenting time

In a proceeding to establish or modify a judgment providing parenting time, Oregon law requires a parenting plan to be developed and filed with the court, subject to the statute's stated exception.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 107

  • A general parenting plan must state the minimum parenting time and access for a noncustodial parent; a detailed plan may address items such as schedules, information sharing, transportation, and dispute resolution.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 107

Key legal sources

How to file

This draft covers an initial Oregon unmarried-parent petition for custody, parenting time, and child support after parentage has been established. It excludes divorce, separation, parentage establishment, modification, enforcement, emergency or protective-order, adoption, guardianship, and interstate matters.Sources:Unmarried Parents, Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 109

  1. Confirm the narrow packet route

    The official Unmarried Parents packet says parentage must be legally established before its custody, parenting-time, and support forms are used, and its court page limits the packet to parents of the children.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet, Unmarried Parents

  2. Prepare the required opening documents

    The January 2026 packet table lists the Petition for Custody and Parenting Time, and Child Support; Summons; Notice of Statutory Restraining Order Preventing Dissipation of Assets; Confidential Information Form for each party including adult children; and Notice of CIF Filing.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet

  3. Identify conditional documents before filing

    The packet separately identifies documents that depend on the facts or court: an Application and Declaration and an Order Regarding Deferral or Waiver of Fees; a Parenting Plan; Child Support Worksheets; Uniform Support Declaration; a parenting-class certificate where the court requires one; a Waiver of Personal Service; and adult-child documents where applicable.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet

  4. File and complete the applicable service path

    The packet says to file the original forms except the Summons and statutory-restraining-order notice, then use the packet's applicable acceptance or service documentation. A Certificate of Mailing or Delivery to DCS is required when its public-assistance or foster-care condition applies.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet, Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 109

  5. Keep completion forms tied to the case path

    The packet lists different completion documents for agreement, default, and hearing paths. It also says Child Support Worksheets must be attached to a judgment, regardless of the resolution path, when child support is involved.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

  • Oregon Judicial Department identifies an Unmarried Parents packet after parentage is legally established and explains that its descriptions are not complete legal or procedural guidance. Its Forms Center says statewide forms are not available for every circumstance and local courts may have additional forms.Sources:Unmarried Parents, Forms Center

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Oregon Law Help

    Area served: Oregon referral and information resource

    Directs users to Oregon Judicial Department custody forms for unmarried parents.Sources:Oregon Custody Forms

    Eligibility: This page does not promise representation; use its legal-help directory to check current provider eligibility and availability.

  • Oregon Law Center

    Area served: Oregon offices and services vary by location

    States that it provides information, advice, brief service, and representation on family-law issues important to low-income families, with highest priority for matters involving domestic violence.Sources:Legal Help for Clients

    Eligibility: Its published family-law description is for low-income families; office location, priorities, and capacity require confirmation before relying on assistance.

Fee waivers

A judge may waive or defer all or part of court fees and costs when the judge finds a party cannot pay them; Oregon law also permits written delegation to a court administrator and review by a judge in the circumstances stated by the statute.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 21

Who may qualify

  • The packet directs a person seeking a filing-fee deferral or waiver to file an Application and Declaration for Deferral or Waiver of Fees and an Order Regarding Deferral or Waiver of Fees with the case papers. A deferral may require later payment, and the packet says a judge may reconsider waived or deferred fees at the end of the case.Sources:UnMarried Parents Packet

What to do

  1. Use the current fee-request forms

    Oregon Judicial Department's fee-waiver page lists statewide forms and notes that additional local forms may be available. The unmarried-parent packet identifies an Application and Declaration and an Order Regarding Deferral or Waiver of Fees for this filing route.Sources:Fee Deferral and Waiver, UnMarried Parents Packet

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

  • After the summons and petition are served in this unmarried-parent proceeding, ORS 109.103 provides a statutory restraining order concerning specified insurance policies until final judgment, dismissal, or further court order; the packet includes the notice as a required opening document and says it must be attached to the summons for service.Sources:Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 109, UnMarried Parents Packet

Part of Family Law in Your State.