diff --git a/python/pyarrow/parquet/__init__.py b/python/pyarrow/parquet/__init__.py
index 4e6b85f22cd..dc962c60ff8 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/parquet/__init__.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/parquet/__init__.py
@@ -2929,8 +2929,10 @@ def write_to_dataset(table, root_path, partition_cols=None,
                      partition_filename_cb=None, filesystem=None,
                      use_legacy_dataset=None, schema=None,
                      partitioning=None, basename_template=None,
-                     use_threads=None, file_visitor=None, **kwargs):
-    """Wrapper around parquet.write_dataset for writing a Table to
+                     use_threads=None, file_visitor=None,
+                     existing_data_behavior=None,
+                     **kwargs):
+    """Wrapper around parquet.write_table for writing a Table to
     Parquet format by partitions.
     For each combination of partition columns and values,
     a subdirectories are created in the following
@@ -2968,8 +2970,8 @@ def write_to_dataset(table, root_path, partition_cols=None,
         Default is False. Set to True to use the the legacy behaviour
         (this option is deprecated, and the legacy implementation will be
         removed in a future version). The legacy implementation still
-        supports `partition_filename_cb` and `metadata_collector` keywords
-        but is less efficient when using partition columns.
+        supports the `partition_filename_cb` keyword but is less efficient
+        when using partition columns.
     use_threads : bool, default True
         Write files in parallel. If enabled, then maximum parallelism will be
         used determined by the number of available CPU cores.
@@ -2983,7 +2985,7 @@ def write_to_dataset(table, root_path, partition_cols=None,
     basename_template : str, optional
         A template string used to generate basenames of written data files.
         The token '{i}' will be replaced with an automatically incremented
-        integer. If not specified, it defaults to "guid-{i}.parquet"
+        integer. If not specified, it defaults to "guid-{i}.parquet".
     file_visitor : function
         If set, this function will be called with a WrittenFile instance
         for each file created during the call.  This object will have both
@@ -3003,6 +3005,28 @@ def write_to_dataset(table, root_path, partition_cols=None,
 
             def file_visitor(written_file):
                 visited_paths.append(written_file.path)
+    existing_data_behavior : 'overwrite_or_ignore' | 'error' | \
+'delete_matching'
+        Controls how the dataset will handle data that already exists in
+        the destination. The default behaviour is 'overwrite_or_ignore'.
+
+        Only used in the new code path using the new Arrow Dataset API
+        (``use_legacy_dataset=False``). In case the legacy implementation
+        is selected the parameter is ignored as the old implementation does
+        not support it (only has the default behaviour).
+
+        'overwrite_or_ignore' will ignore any existing data and will
+        overwrite files with the same name as an output file.  Other
+        existing files will be ignored.  This behavior, in combination
+        with a unique basename_template for each write, will allow for
+        an append workflow.
+
+        'error' will raise an error if any data exists in the destination.
+
+        'delete_matching' is useful when you are writing a partitioned
+        dataset.  The first time each partition directory is encountered
+        the entire directory will be deleted.  This allows you to overwrite
+        old partitions completely.
     **kwargs : dict,
         Additional kwargs for write_table function. See docstring for
         `write_table` or `ParquetWriter` for more information.
@@ -3078,6 +3102,8 @@ def file_visitor(written_file):
 
         if basename_template is None:
             basename_template = guid() + '-{i}.parquet'
+            if existing_data_behavior is None:
+                existing_data_behavior = 'overwrite_or_ignore'
 
         ds.write_dataset(
             table, root_path, filesystem=filesystem,
@@ -3085,7 +3111,7 @@ def file_visitor(written_file):
             partitioning=partitioning, use_threads=use_threads,
             file_visitor=file_visitor,
             basename_template=basename_template,
-            existing_data_behavior='overwrite_or_ignore')
+            existing_data_behavior=existing_data_behavior)
         return
 
     # warnings and errors when using legecy implementation
@@ -3109,6 +3135,8 @@ def file_visitor(written_file):
         raise ValueError(msg2.format("use_threads"))
     if file_visitor is not None:
         raise ValueError(msg2.format("file_visitor"))
+    if existing_data_behavior is not None:
+        raise ValueError(msg2.format("existing_data_behavior"))
     if partition_filename_cb is not None:
         warnings.warn(
             _DEPR_MSG.format("partition_filename_cb", " Specify "
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/parquet/test_dataset.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/parquet/test_dataset.py
index 6477132dcd3..4ab6d0ab5ca 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/parquet/test_dataset.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/parquet/test_dataset.py
@@ -1764,3 +1764,6 @@ def test_parquet_write_to_dataset_unsupported_keywards_in_legacy(tempdir):
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="file_visitor"):
         pq.write_to_dataset(table, path, use_legacy_dataset=True,
                             file_visitor=lambda x: x)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="existing_data_behavior"):
+        pq.write_to_dataset(table, path, use_legacy_dataset=True,
+                            existing_data_behavior='error')