With summer break comes some stressful new routine requirements for parents, especially for parents who are separated. Custody arrangements may change for the summer, and this transition can be hard for kids and parents. Summer break is a fun and relaxing time for kids, but most parents don’t have summer break. Navigating your kid’s free time in addition to your own obligations can be hard, so your parenting plan needs to account for this. A Lincoln child custody attorney is necessary if your parenting plan doesn’t address summer break.

You want to plan ahead for summer vacation, and an effective parenting plan can help with that. Remember to keep the vacation a fun and stress-free time for your children as much as possible and focus on their interests. There are several things you can do to ease the transition of summer break for your family.

Respectful Communication

Communication is crucial for transitioning to summer break with as little strain on your family as possible. This includes communication between you and your co-parent and with your kids. Keeping communication between parents respectful and understanding is better for parents and sets a better example for kids. Maintaining a clear dialogue with your co-parent about pick-ups and drop-offs, vacation plans, or unexpected situations can help make parenting easier for both of you.

Plan Ahead

If your parenting plan does not already address summer vacation, you and your co-parent need to address this. It can help to sit down with a mediator to make the process smoother. Even if you do have a plan for summer vacation, it can be helpful to review it again together to ensure that you both understand your responsibilities for visitation, travel, and moving kids between homes. Make sure the plan is straightforward but also allows room for flexibility with your family’s needs.

Make a Vacation Plan

Parents can take their kids on separate vacation trips, depending on their visitation schedules. However, not every set of co-parents will want to collaborate on vacation plans. At a minimum, parents should inform each other of vacation plans, ensuring that both are aware of where their kids will be.

Determine the Costs

Depending on your vacation plans, you and your co-parent may need to split the costs of vacations or summer activities. Although these expenses may be covered in child support payments, this may not always be the case. If one parent is shouldering more of the costs of raising and paying for a kid’s needs, the other parent may need to chip in for vacation costs. Both parents can contribute to giving kids a fun vacation.

Remain Flexible

There are a lot more factors that can affect plans when parents are separated, especially as children’s schedules change after school ends, and they have a lot more free time. It’s important to stay flexible with summer break plans. That way, when emergencies or unexpected changes pop up, they are less stressful for you and your family.

Prioritize Your Children

You should always consider your children’s interests when creating a plan for the summer. This may include talking with them to determine what their hopes are for summer. You can also learn what both you and your co-parent can do to make the transition to summer break more enjoyable. Summer is a needed period of rest for kids as well as a time when they can have fun and spend more time with their parents.

You and your co-parent may not agree on everything or get along, but be sure to not let disagreements interfere with your children’s break.

FAQs

Q: At What Age Can a Child Refuse Visitation in Nebraska?

A: A child who is not 18 or emancipated cannot refuse visitation in Nebraska. Only when a child is a legal adult can they refuse visitation. Before a child is 18, their opinion does carry some weight in child custody decisions, but the court will ultimately prioritize the child’s interests, even if that conflicts with their wishes.

Even if a child cannot refuse visitation, this doesn’t help in practice when a child refuses to visit. You may want to talk with professionals about your options for adhering to the custody arrangement, modifying it, or other ways to ensure your child’s well-being.

Q: What Is the Ideal Schedule for Co-Parenting?

A: There is no ideal schedule for co-parenting, as the right schedule is one that meets the needs of an individual family. When parents have 50/50 custody, they can arrange schedules based on many different templates for shared custody. They can then determine which one works well with their children’s interests, their custody arrangement, and their own schedules. A child custody attorney can be helpful in determining a parenting plan that fits a family’s unique needs.

Q: How Do I Keep My Kids Busy During Summer Break?

A: Keeping your kids busy during summer break is not an easy task, particularly when trying to keep kids physically and mentally engaged. Some options include taking road trips to a park, a nature trail, a landmark, or a museum. Even just a short trip or a walk down the road to a local ice cream shop or a farmer’s market can be fun. Families can play board games, put together puzzles, or learn a new craft. Ask your kids what they want to do and how they want to spend their vacation.

Q: How Do You Deal With an Unreasonable Co-Parent?

A: An unreasonable co-parent can make it harder to have clear and constructive discussions about your kids, their needs, and what parents need from each other. The most important thing when dealing with an unreasonable co-parent is to ensure that you have a parenting plan with very clear guidelines and expectations, including exchanging your kids between houses and how you communicate important information.

If your co-parent is being extremely unreasonable, and it is affecting your ability to care for your kids, you may want to consider other options for custody, such as parallel parenting.

Contact Stange Law Firm in Lincoln, NE

A child custody attorney can help you review your parenting plan and make sure it addresses important needs this summer. If life changes have made your parenting plan not work for your family, an attorney can also help you modify the plan. Contact the attorneys at Stange Law Firm today to see how we can help.