The summer break from school can be challenging for coparents. Their children get three months off, but parents often still have to work. This can make it difficult to address their child custody arrangement, which may need to be different over the summer months.
There are many ways to address this, and communicating and planning upfront is important. It may even be necessary to modify the child custody arrangement so that it fits the parents’ schedule and addresses the child’s needs.
Changing the weekly schedule
In some cases, parents just need to alter their weekly schedule. A parent who traditionally just sees the children on the weekends, for example, may need to have additional child custody time during the week to allow the other coparent to work.
During the school year, when the children are in school during work hours, that parent may be happy to have custody before and after school. But during the summer, they need additional assistance, and they may want an arrangement that is closer to a 50-50 split.
Addressing trips and vacations
Additionally, families sometimes take trips over the summer break, and these may also interfere with a standing custody order.
Say that parents already split time 50-50, exchanging the children every other week, but one parent wants to take them on a two-week trip during summer break. They will need to clear that trip with their coparent so that they can have an extended amount of custody time, to avoid interfering with the other person’s parental rights.
With proper planning, it is possible to set up a child custody arrangement that works for all parties. It is important for parents to know about the legal steps they may need to take to address any potential modifications.