Suddenly, it’s summer. Have your vacation visitation and custody arrangements gone belly-up yet? It’s useful to learn how divorced parents can prevent problems with summer visitation schedules.
It is wise to include all holiday and vacation schedule contingencies in your custody judgment. While some divorced parents get along well enough to cooperate with one another, it never hurts to have the rules spelled out in black and white. That way there can be no confusion.
If the parents want to make some changes to accommodate each other, they can still do so. However, if problems arise, the custody judgment will be the document used to establish the ground rules. That’s why it’s very important to work with your Florida family law attorney when drawing up a comprehensive parenting plan to submit to the court.
Keep in mind, too, that a plan negotiated when the kids were ages 2 and 4 will certainly need some tweaking by the time they are 12 and 14 (and likely much sooner). When parents can agree on these age- and lifestyle-appropriate changes, it can save everyone time and money.
When they cannot, either side can petition the court for a custody or visitation modification, with the court being the final arbiter of the dispute. All decisions made by Florida family court judges are made with the best interests of the children in mind. Older children may be able to offer their own input into a situation as well.
Don’t let your summer get off to a miserable start by fighting with your ex over visitation and custody agreements. Contact your family law attorney with your concerns.
Source: Custody Xchange, “Holiday Custody Arrangements,” accessed June 16, 2017
