I've Used OurFamilyWizard for 3 Years. Here's What I Wish Existed.

If you're a divorced parent, you've probably heard of OurFamilyWizard. Maybe your attorney recommended it. Maybe the court ordered it. Maybe you found it yourself while desperately Googling "how to communicate with difficult ex."

I've been using OFW for three years now. And while it's solved some problems, it's created others - especially when it comes to custody scheduling.

Here's my honest take.

Why I Started Using OurFamilyWizard

Let's be real: I didn't choose OFW because I was excited about it. I chose it because I needed a buffer.

When you're co-parenting with a high-conflict ex, you need documentation. You need separation. You need proof that you said what you said, when you said it.

I requested it, the court approved it, and now every message goes through OFW. Courts know and trust it - there's apparently some kind of official access where they can pull message records if needed. That peace of mind? Worth it.

What OFW Actually Gets Right

I'll be fair - it's not all bad.

The messaging works. Every message is timestamped and documented. No "I never said that" arguments. For high-conflict situations, this alone is valuable.

Expense tracking is decent. Splitting costs, logging receipts, keeping records - it handles this reasonably well.

Face ID login is clutch. I never have to remember a password. Open the app, Face ID, I'm in. Small thing, but I use it daily.

The concept of shared info is right. They have a section for kid info - doctor's names, appointments, etc. My kid has a lot of medical issues, so having a shared place for this stuff makes sense in theory.

But the Scheduling? Absolutely Worthless.

And here's where I get frustrated.

Setup Took Forever for Something Basic

I just needed a simple two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule. That's it. The most common custody arrangement there is.

It took me 30 minutes to set up.

Thirty minutes of clicking, configuring, waiting, and second-guessing. And that was JUST for the basic alternating schedule - nothing fancy, no holidays, no special days.

Want to add holidays? Good luck. There's no preset for Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines. No "here are the standard holidays that alternate years." You'd have to manually enter every. single. one.

No thanks.

The Interface is Just... Dated

Look, I'm not expecting a work of art. But OFW feels like it was built in 2010 and hasn't been touched since.

Want to send a message? You click "new message," then you select who to send it to, and then - here's the fun part - you have to click OFF the dropdown before you can even start typing your message. It's clunky. It's unintuitive. It's annoying every single time.

They do have a somewhat mobile-optimized interface, so at least I'm not pinching and zooming. But "somewhat mobile-optimized" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement in 2025.

No Live Feedback When Making Changes

This one drives me crazy.

When you're setting up or editing your schedule, there's no live preview. No "here's what your calendar will look like" as you make changes. Instead it's:

1. Click something
2. Wait
3. "Okay, let me see if that worked..."
4. Nope, that's not right
5. Click something else
6. Wait again

It's not modern. It's not responsive. It doesn't guide you through anything. You're just guessing and hoping.

Holidays? What Holidays?

Here's the killer: OFW can't actually handle holidays properly.

At least not without manually entering every single one. There's no "I'm in Indiana, apply the standard parenting time guidelines." There's no "alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas each year." There's no intelligence at all.

So that "two weeks on, two weeks off" schedule I spent 30 minutes setting up? It's wrong half the time because it doesn't know that Dad gets Thanksgiving this year, or that spring break follows special rules.

I end up checking the custody agreement anyway. Which defeats the entire purpose.

Oh, and the AI Tone Meter

They added an "AI tone meter" that's supposed to flag if your message sounds aggressive or hostile.

It's a joke. Either it flags everything or nothing. I've never found it useful once.

What I Actually Wish Existed

After three years of this, here's what I want:

Setup in 5 minutes, not 30. Pick your state, pick your schedule type, confirm your start date. Done. The app should know Indiana's parenting time guidelines. It should handle alternating holidays automatically. I shouldn't need to manually enter anything.

Instant, confident answers. When I open the app, I want to see "You have the kids this week" in big, clear text. Not a cluttered calendar I have to interpret. Not a schedule that might be wrong because holidays aren't handled. Just: here's the answer, and it's right.

Live, responsive interface. When I make a change, I should see it immediately. Guide me through the setup. Show me what my schedule looks like as I build it. Don't make me guess and wait.

Actually handle the hard stuff. Holidays that alternate years. Spring break rules. Birthday exceptions. All the stuff that's actually in my custody agreement but impossible to set up in any app.

Sharing that makes sense. My kid's doctor, their clothing sizes, school info - why am I entering this twice? Why can't we just share a living document that either parent can update?

The Bottom Line

OurFamilyWizard solved my communication problem. I needed documentation, I got it. For high-conflict co-parenting, the messaging alone might be worth it.

But for scheduling? For actually knowing who has the kids and when, with confidence?

It's not even close.

I've spent three years wishing something better existed. Something built for how custody actually works - with state-specific guidelines, holiday intelligence, and an interface that doesn't feel like homework.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone.