Vacations, and how to safely getaway during this time of social distancing, have become the latest round of challenging co-parenting discussions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had clients who concerned about how to properly handle child custody and changing homes safely. As we gear up to return to school, many parents have had to determine what their plan is as the new school year approaches.
Now, as we all gear up for the long-haul in this COVID-19 pandemic, families are starting to reconsider what vacations are reasonable to take at this time.
If you are co-parenting with an ex and are looking for some guidance about taking vacations, here are a few tips the team at Wasserman Family Law has been recommending to our clients.
1. Determine Your Risk Tolerance
The reality we all face right now is that we all have different risk tolerances. The first thing you must do is sit down and determine where your risk tolerance is right now. And you should encourage the other parent to do the same. For most of our clients, they realize that their risk tolerance has changed over the course of the last few months and some vacation ideas sound more reasonable than they did when this pandemic started.
2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
We cannot stress enough have important it is to communicate. Once you both understand your risk tolerances and boundaries, you will be better equipped to have an honest conversation with one another. You may even be surprised to learn that you and your ex have similar risk tolerances.
For this step, is it imperative that you try to calmly communicate with your ex, away from your child(ren). The less involved your children are in the discussion, the less of a chance they will be mixed up in a disagreement. We suggest not promising anything to your child(ren) with respect to vacations until there is an agreement in place.
3. Hire a Parent Coordinator
If you have a difficult time communicating with your ex and coming up with shared decisions, we highly recommend considering hiring a Parent Coordinator (PC). PCs are trained to help mitigate day-to-day disputes between parents and come to a mutually agreed-upon decision.
Custody disputes can be exhausting, expensive, and overwhelming. The feelings of frustration and loss only intensify when parents feel that making decisions for their child(ren) is difficult. The last thing you want to do is go to Court over custody disputes that can be handled with less time and money outside of the courtroom.
Parent Coordination provides a time and place (virtually, if preferred) for parents to meet and resolve day-to-day disputes. The overarching goal is to reduce the effects of conflict on the parents’ child(ren). A PC will also save considerable time, energy, and legal fees—all while removing your child(ren) from the effects of conflict.
Laurie M. Wasserman is a court-certified Parent Coordinator. To serve as a PC in the state of Maryland, Laurie was required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of specified training in addition to 60 hours of mediation training skills.
If you have questions about vacations and custody disputes, please contact Laurie Wasserman at laurie@wassermanlawoffice.com or 410-842-1070. The legal team at Wasserman Family Law is here to help guide and advocate for you.
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