Can unmarried parents sign a parenting plan?
Children Act 2022 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Yes. Parents who are not married to each other can sign a parental responsibility agreement, in the prescribed form, setting out each parent's duties to the child. It can be a parenting plan, and only a court can revoke or end it.
- Where
- Signed by the parents; mediation at a Children's Office (or call 116); disputes at the Children's Court in any magistrate's court
Steps
- Agree together, in the best interests of the child, on each parent's duties and sign the agreement in the prescribed form.
- Cover the practical things: time with each parent, contact details, visits, holidays and school breaks, travel in and outside Kenya, health insurance, moving house and school decisions.
- If you cannot agree, the Children's Office offers mediation on care, access, co-parenting and school and health decisions. Reach it through a Children's Office, a court or the child helpline 116.
- To change or end the agreement, or if it is broken, go to the Children's Court. All magistrate's courts handle children matters.
Watch out
- Neither parent can cancel it alone. Only a court order, on application by a person with parental responsibility or by the child with the court's leave, can revoke or end it.
- Blocking the other parent's access in breach of the agreement, or taking the child away to stop it, is an offence: up to 1 year in jail, a fine of up to KSh 500,000, or both.
- If you have the child and move house, tell the other parent the new address in writing. Not doing so is an offence: up to 1 year in jail, a fine of up to KSh 200,000, or both.
Who this covers
- Parents of a child who are not married to each other.
Official sources (3)
- The Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022) childrenservices.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Magistrate Courts judiciary.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Services childrenservices.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026