If you’re one of many Texas parents who will be navigating their first summer following a divorce, you might also be among those who have a few concerns regarding child-related issues. If your kids are on summer break from school, you and your ex might have to work out an agreement for supervision while you both are at work outside of your respective homes.
Your children might be attending a summer camp or day camps or taking dance classes or playing a sport. These fun activities (which may even help your kids come to terms with your divorce in a healthy way) make summer break special, but they also require logistics. Who’s going to drive them where they need to go and pick them up when the activity is over? Who’s going to pay for it all?
Review your existing child custody agreement before summer starts
You no doubt already have details incorporated into your child custody plan that cover a lot of the bases for summertime. However, it’s best to review your plan and determine whether you need to modify it for summer months. The following list includes topics you might want to work into your agreement:
- Rules for taking kids on vacation, such as agreeing to notify the other parent ahead of time within a certain amount of time
- Terms of agreement for the children’s residence — will they stay in one household all summer or transfer back and forth?
- Whether each parent can watch the kids while the other parent works or a babysitter might be necessary
You can customize your child custody agreement to fit your needs. When parents are willing to sit down and discuss summer plans in an amicable fashion, their children may be the ones who benefit most.
What should you do if a summertime legal problem arises?
What if your spouse is supposed to inform you of an upcoming vacation involving your children but he or she leaves without doing so? Or, what if you’re supposed to receive funds for your children’s summer activities but those funds never arrive? If there’s one thing that can threaten to ruin summertime fun, it’s encountering child custody problems. On the flip side, if your children witness you and their other parent working together in a peaceful manner, they might be better able to cope with your divorce.
Divorce undoubtedly causes a certain amount of disruption in kids’ lives, but it does not have to ruin them. If you and your former spouse are willing to forge a solid child custody plan, your summer plans could go off without a hitch.