Is a child custody agreement required in a divorce settlement?

You can settle your property issues and obtain a divorce before resolving your child support and custody issues.  It is a bad idea for both the attorney and the client to not deal in some way with custody and support issues for numerous reasons.   you can probably obtain your objective through properly prepared pleadings.    Also, child support is retroactive to filing the demand for support.

Michael Conroy

If you mean do the parents have to agree, no, not necessarily.  If the parents agree who is to have custody, the court shall award custody in accordance with their agreement unless the best interest of the child requires a different award. In the absence of agreement, or if the agreement is not in the best interest of the child, the court shall award custody to the parents jointly; however, if custody in one parent is shown by clear and convincing evidence to serve the best interest of the child, the court shall award custody to that parent. It is better to agree than to disagree.