Your typical co-parenting routine will likely change when your kids are out of school and on summer vacation. The kids no longer have school for seven hours a day, five days a week. This freedom for them presents opportunities for fun but challenges for you regarding co-parenting.
Some common custodial issues co-parents face over summer break include coordinating vacation planning, parenting time disagreements, and planning parenting time around work schedules.
Creating a Summer Parenting Schedule
Summer break lasts about 12 weeks, and while the kids have all day every day off, you still must go to work. Make alternative plans or childcare arrangements for your kids during this time. The best option depends on your child’s age.
Work obligations can make your current child custody arrangements more challenging, so getting your kids involved in activities and working with your co-parent may be necessary to create a summer parenting schedule that works for everyone over the summer. Finding a plan that will work throughout the summer can tremendously simplify your lives.
Summer vacation should not change your daily routine if your kids are infants or too young for school. However, if your kids are in preschool or elementary school, finding a daycare or hiring a nanny during the summer may be the most appropriate solution. If your kids are a bit older, finding a summer camp or club to join is a great option to keep them occupied during the day.
Depending on the specifications of your parenting agreement or court order, you may need to discuss these options with your co-parent and agree on an option in advance, even if that option is only during your respective parenting time.
Common Summer Parenting Schedules
After determining the limits of your schedule, and that of your co-parent, the next step is agreeing on a summer parenting schedule.
Some common summer schedules include the 2-2-3 schedule, alternating weeks, switching every two weeks, and spending the summer at one parent’s house. These schedules can also work during the school year, but if needed, you can have a different summer schedule than during the school year.
2-2-3 Schedule
Under this plan, your children spend two days with you, two days with their other parent, and then a three-day weekend with you. The plan then alternates the following week, allowing your co-parent to have a three-day weekend with your child. This cycle repeats for the duration of the summer.
This schedule appeals to many co-parents because it allows children to see both parents frequently and works particularly well if the co-parents live close together. However, it requires frequent transitions between houses for the kids, which often becomes less appealing with age.
Alternating Weeks
Under this schedule, your children spend a whole week with you and the next week at their other parent’s home, alternating each week throughout the summer.
This schedule is very easy to track, and it can give kids a greater sense of consistency than the 2-2-3 approach. It can also give parents longer periods of time with their kids, affording more opportunities to connect and plan activities, such as camping trips.
Every Two Weeks
This schedule is similar to the alternating-weeks schedule but alternates every two weeks instead of every week.
This approach allows for more consistency and less transitioning back and forth for the kids, allowing them to settle in fully at each house and giving you the opportunity to take them on a vacation without worrying about overlapping with the other parent’s parenting time. However, having such a long, uninterrupted stretch of parenting time with your kids can be difficult.
Whole Summer
In some cases, one parent has primary parenting responsibility during the school year, and the other parent lives far away, perhaps even out of state. In such cases, it might make more sense for the children to stay with one parent through the school year and then spend the whole summer with the parent who lives far away, giving them the chance to build strong relationships with both parents each year.
These are some of the most common summer parenting schedules, but ultimately, there is a lot of flexibility if you and your co-parent agree with what works best for you and your children. Be sure to check your custody agreement in case it already details changes to the parenting schedule in the summer or outlines how you can make such changes moving forward.
Co-Parent Disagreements
The flexibility summer provides can lead to disagreements between co-parents over parenting time. For example, one parent might want to extend their parenting time for a vacation with the kids, while the other may want to stick to the usual schedule.
Parents must abide by their court-ordered parenting time arrangements, but if both parents consent, changes can be made. For instance, if one parent wants to take their child on a trip that overlaps with the other parent’s time, they may come to an alternative agreement, such as swapping some parenting time dates to make up for lost time.
Taking Children Out of the State or Country
Additionally, if you must get the other parent's consent before taking your child out of the state or country. It’s highly recommended that you inform your co-parent of any travel plans as soon as possible and travel with written documentation of their consent to avoid potentially serious complications and consequences.
If your co-parent resists allowing you to travel out of state with your children, you may need to schedule a hearing to get the court’s permission to take your children on the trip.
What If a Co-Parent Ignores Visitation or Parenting Time Orders?
There are also some instances in which one parent ignores court orders and withholds visitation or parenting time from their co-parent. Such occurrences can be very stressful, put significant strain on the co-parenting relationship, and negatively impact the children.
Withholding visitation or parenting time is punishable because it violates a court order. If your co-parent violates your custody agreement, document each occurrence for the court.
Seek Legal Guidance When Disputes Aren’t Resolved
It is important to handle disagreements with your co-parent carefully. Ideally, you can agree on your own; however, if you need help, mediating your issues with attorneys and a neutral decision-maker can be very helpful.
If your parenting agreement or court order does not specify an amount of vacation parenting time allotted to each parent each year, you may wish to revisit it to include such provisions.
Contact Us for Legal Assistance
The legal team at Solutions Based Family Law is here to provide the legal support co-parents need. If you’ve encountered a dispute that you can’t work out with your child’s other parent, it may be time to consult a family law attorney.
There can be more than one solution to any visitation or child custody dispute that arises during summer. As a solutions-oriented law firm, we are dedicated to providing our clients with thorough legal representation that leaves no stones unturned.
Learn more about the difference we can make during an initial consultation. Contact us today to get started.