Summer break often brings about a lot of changes for families. If they have school-age children, their schedule changes dramatically. The children have three months off, and that can make things especially complex for co-parents after a divorce.
To address this, coparents often have to create a special summer custody schedule. During the school year, custody exchanges may be fairly simple. After all, while the parents are at work, the children are at school. Parents could just exchange custody on Friday at the end of every week, and things move smoothly and predictably.
But in the summer, there may be the need for daycare or childcare while the parents are at work. Exchanges at school won’t be possible since the children are always at home. The couple needs to work together to find a new exchange schedule and a location to make those exchanges.
Communicating about vacations
Another thing to think about is taking a trip during summer vacation. This is often possible, but a long trip—such as a road trip to see national parks in other states—may not fit within the current custody exchange schedule.
This is why it’s so important for co-parents to communicate in advance. They can often reach an agreement so that the children can still go on the trip with one parent, but it’s very important for that parent not to leave without informing the other, thereby violating their custody rights. This is especially true when taking the children out of the state or out of the country, so communication upfront is crucial.
If you and your co-parent run into conflicts about your parental rights or your custody schedule this summer, take the time to carefully look into the legal options at your disposal.