Sometimes, and only case by case. No statute or court rule requires OurFamilyWizard. A judge can order two parents to communicate through it, and judges in contested custody cases do, often enough that OurFamilyWizard publishes model order language for them and says it has been ordered in all 50 states. If your order does not name it, you are not required to use it. If your order does, refusing can put you out of compliance with the order, not with any law about the app itself.
Everything below was checked on September 10, 2026 against OurFamilyWizard's own pages for judges, courts and pricing, and against public court opinions. Where a claim is OurFamilyWizard's own, it says so.
A family court judge orders OurFamilyWizard the same way a judge orders any term of a parenting arrangement: as a line in a custody order, a parenting plan, or a temporary order in a high-conflict case. OurFamilyWizard makes that easy. Its practitioners site offers "Common Order Language" that a judge or attorney can paste into an order, and its courts page says "hundreds of family law judges, justices, and magistrates in all 50 states are ordering families in contested cases to use OurFamilyWizard."
The public record backs the scale of that claim. A search of published appellate opinions on CourtListener on August 30, 2026 found OurFamilyWizard named in about 290 opinions, against about 100 for TalkingParents and AppClose combined. Those are only the cases that were appealed and published, so the number of trial-court orders is far larger.
Some courts go further and list it as a resource. About two dozen court and county pages, mostly in California, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio and Texas, list OurFamilyWizard alongside TalkingParents or AppClose. Los Angeles Superior Court keeps a formal vendor list with two apps on it. Most courts have no such list, and an order can name any app the judge chooses, or none.
Two things.
First, the other parent has to use it. An order to communicate through OurFamilyWizard binds both parents. A parent who refuses to sign up, or who keeps texting instead, is not complying with the order, and the app's record shows the gap. OurFamilyWizard's own FAQ puts it plainly: "If it's court ordered, a refusal might violate the court order."
Second, the judge expects to see the record. When a case comes back to court, the parent or attorney exports the OurFamilyWizard record as a PDF and files it. The judge does not log in. OurFamilyWizard offers accounts for family law professionals, and parents can request certified and notarized records generated from its system logs; the Max plan includes them, and the other plans pay per record.
An order does not make the court pay for it. OurFamilyWizard runs a fee-waiver program for qualifying parents "when the app is recommended or ordered by the court," which is the company's program, not the court's.
OurFamilyWizard's page for judges says its documentation "meets court standards for evidence" and lists why: sent messages cannot be changed, deleted or unsent; messages are timestamped when sent and when first read; schedule changes, expense entries and GPS check-ins are logged automatically; and the whole record exports to PDF, with certified and notarized copies available on request.
Admissibility is decided by the judge in each case under that state's evidence rules, and no app can promise it. What OurFamilyWizard can promise, and does, is that the record was not edited after the fact, which is usually the question a court asks about any message log. Attorneys treat OurFamilyWizard exports as routine, and the volume of published opinions that quote them suggests courts do too.
OurFamilyWizard has no free tier. Each parent pays:
| Plan | Per parent, per year |
|---|---|
| Basic | $110 |
| Essentials | $149 |
| Premium | $216 |
| Max | $299 |
Unlimited PDF records start at the Essentials plan; the Basic plan is receive-only for calls and limited on storage. A two-parent household on Essentials pays about $300 a year. A parent who cannot afford it can apply for the fee waiver. The full breakdown, including add-ons and the App Store prices, is in our OurFamilyWizard pricing guide.
Most custody orders say "communicate in writing" or "use a co-parenting communication app" without naming one. In that case any app whose record you can export will do, and the choice comes down to price and what you actually need.
Kidtime is built for that situation. We would rather you compare on the facts than on adjectives, so here is what the record looks like:
What Kidtime does not have: GPS check-ins, certified or notarized records, or model order language. OurFamilyWizard has all three. If your judge has already ordered OurFamilyWizard, use OurFamilyWizard; an app cannot substitute for the one named in your order.
Kidtime is not on any court's approved list. A Kentucky family court has asked us for pamphlets to hand to high-conflict parents after attorneys recommended the app in that courtroom, and attorneys already use the view-only account, but no judge has ordered Kidtime by name that we know of. Evidentiary requirements vary by jurisdiction and case type, so confirm with your attorney what your court accepts before relying on any app's export, ours included.
Side by side: Kidtime vs OurFamilyWizard. Other options when the price is the problem: OurFamilyWizard alternatives.
Is OurFamilyWizard required by law? No. It is ordered by individual judges in individual cases, most often high-conflict ones. If your order does not name it, you are not required to use it.
Can a judge force me to use OurFamilyWizard? Yes, as a term of a custody or communication order. Refusing to use it after such an order is a compliance problem in your case.
Can OurFamilyWizard be used in court? Yes. Either parent exports the record as a PDF and files it. Certified and notarized copies can be requested; the Max plan includes them.
Does the court monitor OurFamilyWizard? No. Judges do not log in. They see the exported record a parent or attorney files, and attorneys can have a professional account with a client's consent.
Do both parents have to pay for OurFamilyWizard? Yes. Each parent needs a subscription, from $110 a year, and there is no free tier. A fee waiver exists for qualifying parents.
What if my co-parent refuses to use OurFamilyWizard? If it is court-ordered, the refusal is a violation of the order and your attorney can raise it. If it is not ordered, nobody can compel them, and the record only covers what went through the app.
Sources: ourfamilywizard.com/practitioners/judges, /practitioners/courts and /practitioners/model-order-language; ourfamilywizard.com/plans-and-pricing; CourtListener opinion search, August 30, 2026; court resource pages surveyed August 30, 2026. Checked September 10, 2026. Kidtime feature statements are from our own product as of the same date.