Summer Vacation and Custody Agreements: What You Need to Know Before Making Plans

Sharing custody of your children can be challenging at certain times of the year, including summertime. Depending on the situation, you may need to change your custody arrangement, which could be difficult and stressful.

Fortunately, help is available if you need it. A child custody attorney can assist you with summer vacation child custody plans to ensure you and your children have a fun, restful summer break.

What to Consider Before Making Summer Custody Plans

Before making any changes to your custody arrangements for summer, it’s important to consider certain details. First and foremost, you should ask yourself — does anything need to change? Some custody schedules are feasible all year, even during summer break.

Still, even with a wonderful custody arrangement, you may need to make minor or major changes. The following factors can help you determine the extent of the alterations you must make.

The Time Frame of Your Child’s Vacation

Summer break begins and ends at different times based on your child’s location and school. Therefore, before making plans, look into your child’s summer schedule to see how much time you have.

Your Children’s Ages

Age plays a big role in custody schedules. For example, for younger children, like toddlers, summer doesn’t mean significant changes in scheduling. But school-age kids are more impacted by summer break, as they have about two full months out of school. For older children, you’ll need to make more substantial plans.

What Your Kids Will Be Doing

Children of different ages have varying interests, meaning they’ll engage in certain activities during summer. Will they go to summer camp during the day? Will they be working a summer job? Will they be playing summer sports?

Consider what your children will be doing all summer. This can help make determinations concerning custody.

Tips to Handle Summer Vacation Custody Arrangements

Making changes to custody schedules can be hard, especially if you already have an arrangement that works well for everyone. Modifying plans can feel like “rocking the boat,” but it may be necessary, depending on your situation.

The following tips can help you and your child’s other parent develop a plan that suits everyone’s needs and allows for a fulfilling summer.

Plan Ahead

The most important detail to remember regarding custody arrangements is to plan. Don’t wait until before summer break to plan for your children’s custody situation. Early planning can promote harmonious, collaborative scheduling.

Be Flexible

It’s always best when both parents are flexible about summer custody. While having a concrete plan is ideal, circumstances change, and unexpected situations arise. There should be a commitment to efficient custody scheduling and a willingness to accommodate required changes.

Get Help if Necessary

Planning for summer vacation custody can be overwhelming. If you and your co-parent cannot agree on arrangements, get help from a skilled attorney.

Seek Legal Guidance for Summer Vacation Child Custody

Legal assistance is available to help you with your child custody arrangements. The child custody lawyers at The Gucciardo Law Firm can provide quality guidance and advice. Contact our firm today to schedule a consultation.