If you have a custody agreement or order in place, here are a few questions you should be able to answer BEFORE your child's Christmas break starts.
1. What dates are the children with me and what dates are they with their other parent over the winter break?
2. On dates that the children move from one house to another, what time does this move take place?
3. On dates that the children move from one house to another, who is responsible for the transportation and/or where do I meet the other parent?
4. How do we handle Christmas and Christmas Eve if the children are not with me for those nights? Are we doing a separate Christmas celebration before or after?
5. Do we have a plan for the children to talk to both of their parents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
6. Have I reviewed the plan with the children's other parent to ensure we are on the same page?
Custody agreement and court orders are great to have in place but, by nature of the circumstances, will never include every detail on how to handle things that come up. It's a good idea to work with the other parent now, rather than later, to make sure you both understand your responsibilities over the winter break.
The last thing you want is for your children to be uncertain of who's house they will be at and when, all while they are getting excited for Christmas to be here. You also don't want to have to be dealing with arguing over details when you are trying to get in the Christmas spirit and enjoy your holidays as well.
Answer those questions to yourself and then have a conversation with your children's other parent to make sure you both agree on all of the the answers. This will help ensure you have a great, peaceful holiday and more importantly, your children will too.
If you need help interpreting your agreement or coming to a new one quickly, please contact us at (804) 447-0146 or clbaudean@baudeanlaw.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment