If you are going through a divorce, you may be dreaming of your next vacation. Yet, if you share children with your spouse, you’ll need to do more than just think about taking a break. You need to start planning for your vacations in specific ways.
From now on, you are probably going to need permission to go away if you’re going to take your kids with you. It’s frustrating to think that you won’t be able to take the kids away without your ex’s say so, but it will be the same for them, as they will need your permission as long as you both share custody. There is a good reason for these protocols, even though it might not seem that way.
Permission reduces the chance of abduction
While you hopefully have no intention of abducting your kids, and your spouse hopefully doesn’t either, some people try to use vacation as a pretext to take their kids. The law, understandably, needs to have provisions in place to counter such risks. Hence, if traveling overseas or even out of state, someone may ask you to show permission from the other parent to travel with your kids. It might just be the transport company, or it could be the border guards or even a police officer.
Permission can be addressed in your custody agreement
You can make each other’s lives easier by agreeing in writing that you will each let the other parent travel away with the kids in the coming years.
You might agree to specific times, such as you can travel with them for the first half of the school holidays and your spouse for the second half. Or perhaps you’ll agree that the kids will alternate traveling to see parents in distant states each Thanksgiving.
You can insert such provisions as exceptions to the usual custody schedule, although it’s probably best to get specific written permission for each trip.
It’s about doing what is best for the kids
Children can learn so much through travel and spending time with a parent in a new environment. Making things clear now can reduce the chance of problems later on. Consider getting legal help to consider what other provisions you should include in your custody agreement to avoid preventable tension and legal issues in the future.