During the school year, you and your ex find child custody to be fairly simple. The children have a stable schedule, so you are able to set up a routine that works around your own careers. Everything is set in place, with the exception of the holidays.
In the summer, though, everything can change. The children are suddenly out of school and may need to be watched much more of the time. Your career doesn’t take the summer off, but the kids do. There can also be complications with family trips and vacations, or the kids may want to do things with their free time that don’t perfectly fit into your carefully-crafted custody schedule. How can you still make things work?
The key lies in working together
This can be difficult, but the key to the whole thing is simply to cooperate with your ex. The two of you need to communicate well and try to work together to find a solution. The best way to make this possible is simply to put the children first and to know that every compromise you make or every time you have to communicate with your ex is just a way for you to give your children the type of summer that they will enjoy.
You especially want to communicate in advance about any trips or vacations that you’re planning to take. You don’t want to violate your ex’s parental rights by being out of town when they are supposed to see the kids. If you clear things with them first, they’ll probably be fine with it, but you can start a serious dispute if they don’t know that it’s coming.
As the summer grows closer and parents begin thinking about how life is going to change, make sure you take the time to consider any legal steps that will be necessary to make this whole process go smoothly.