The holiday season is the perfect opportunity to share quality time with your loved ones. As you are planning family traditions and preparing holiday meals, it can be challenging to navigate when you are also juggling shared custody. Coparenting can be tricky throughout the year, but many parents find that emotions and stress run higher when trying to manage the custody schedule during the holiday season.
Planning Ahead is Key
Even if you have an amicable relationship with your co-parent, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming that you will figure out custody as you go. Most of the time, both parents want to have their children during the holiday season. So, it’s essential to plan a schedule in advance that splits the children’s time between both parents.
Not only does pre-planning reduce the risk of disagreements between the co-parents. But it also helps your kids to enjoy the season without drama.
Usually, divorce and child custody agreements have detailed instructions for the holiday season. Consider when the kids are out of school and which holidays are important to your family. Then, write out a schedule that works for everyone involved.
What is the Ideal Holiday Schedule?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for designing a holiday custody schedule. Every family is unique, which is why you need to find the solutions that work best for your unique needs.
For example, if one parent likes to take the kids on a spring break trip every year, then it might make sense for the other parent to have more time during the Christmas season. Or, maybe you want to split the holidays and alternate years. Another possibility is to divide the winter break evenly, with one parent taking the first week and the other taking the second week.
Official Custody Planning
Misunderstandings can happen if you only have verbal agreements for child custody. It’s important that all of these details are in written form – everything needs to be outlined in a legal agreement.
If you need help designing or updating your child custody plan, then reach out to our expert team at Miles & Hatcher, LLP. You are welcome to schedule a free consultation to learn more about available legal services: (909) 481-4080.
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