How Custody Agreements May Affect Holiday Celebrations and Potential Travel Plans

Navigating the holidays as a divorced parent of minor children can be stressful and difficult. Depending on how each side of the family wants to celebrate the holidays, there can be major issues to resolve before either parent gets to watch their child open gifts or sit on Santa’s lap. That’s why making a parenting plan is crucial—it is a way to ensure that each parent gets to spend special moments with their child, and the details are worked out well in advance.

Unfortunately, that means that there are some holidays you won’t be able to spend with your child, depending on what’s outlined in the parenting plan. Before making any travel arrangements, you should look to the parenting plan to ensure that your plans will be in compliance. If you need a child custody lawyer in Miami, FL, whether to create or modify a parenting plan, call the Law Offices of Granoff & Kessler.

Why have a parenting plan?

It would be nice if all divorcing parents could sit down and work out a parenting plan without conflict, but as with all emotional situations, tensions can run high. Many clients sit down with a mediator to work out these details, including custody, holiday arrangements and other potentially touchy subjects. The mediator is a neutral third party who will act in the best interest of the child.

Things to consider include how you’ll split the winter holidays (perhaps one parent wants Christmas morning and the other gets Christmas Eve, or you’ll make an every-other-year arrangement), where and how the children will travel and how pickups and drop-offs will be handled. There is no single way to design a parenting plan, since it depends on your individual needs.

How can I modify a parenting plan?

As your children grow and circumstances change, your parenting plan might not be as applicable as it once was. Parents might remarry or move, a child might prefer one side of the family’s celebrations to the other or they may have after-school and extracurricular activities that make holiday traveling difficult. At that point, it’s time to modify the parenting plan to better reflect the current situation.

Generally, if you both agree, you can modify the parenting plan together. If one parent does not agree, a parenting plan can be modified if the requesting parent can show that there’s a “substantial, material and unanticipated change in circumstances.” This is designed to allow parents some flexibility while still giving both the custody time they are entitled to.

Work with a child custody lawyer in Miami, FL

If you’re in need of a trustworthy child custody lawyer in Miami, FL to help craft a custody agreement, you can rely on the Law Offices of Granoff & Kessler to provide you with exceptional legal counsel and strong representation both within and outside of the courtroom. Our highly qualified attorneys possess more than 60 years’ worth of industry experience. Call us today to find out how we can help your custody case.

Categorized in: Child Custody, Family Law