When time-sharing works, it can help create a nurturing environment for your children that is necessary after a divorce.
But if you don’t have a specific schedule or itinerary for travel during holidays with your child, you can run into trouble.
During the holidays, emotions tend to run higher when both parents want to spend as much quality time as possible with their child, and if there is no schedule in place, conflict is inevitable.
It is important to understand that planning your holiday travel schedule with your child during the divorce process is an effective way to avoid future problems.
What To Include In Your Parenting Plan Regarding Travel During the Holidays
Your parenting plan agreement should include how you and the other parent will handle time-sharing during holidays and weekends. But it should also include how you will handle travel during the holiday season.
Your travel during the holiday provisions should include:
- In-state Travel –On which holidays will each parent be able to travel with the child within the state? Where will each parent be going and for how long? In many instances, in-state travel poses less problems between parents than travel out of state or out of the country.
- Out of State Travel – On which holidays will each parent be able to travel with the child out of state? Where will each parent be going and for how long? Will each parent get a major holiday such as Thanksgiving and Christmas during which they can take the child out of state?
- International Travel – In most cases, you will need a court order from a family judge or a written consent form to travel out of the country with your child in a time-sharing situation. You can, however, list any future dates in which you would like to take that trip, so that when you do go to court to obtain authorization, the judge will see that you and the other parent previously agreed to the international travel.
- Travel Itinerary – The traveling parent should provide the other parent with a travel itinerary which includes where and when their child will travel, and provide the other parent with the ability to communicate with their child during the travel timesharing.
By creating a travel holiday schedule, you can provide for your child and other family members involved, a holiday season that is free of conflict.
How a Lawyer Can Help With Your Time-Sharing Schedule
As you are going through a divorce that involves children, your time-sharing schedule is one of the most important issues in the Parenting Plan that will need to be addressed. And because this is often an emotional issue, hiring an experienced and compassionate family lawyer can help you when it comes to creating a Parenting Plan and Timesharing schedule with the other parent. The Law Office of Eric C. Cheshire P.A. has nearly 30 years of experience helping clients create fair and practical time-sharing schedules. Please call (561) 677-8090 to schedule a confidential consultation.