How to Deal With Summer Vacations When Divorced as a Parent

We are closing in on summer vacation. With the COVID-19 pandemic starting to fade away as more and more people get vaccinated, vacation plans are back on for a lot of families around the United States. For divorced parents, it can be difficult to navigate exactly how these vacations will happen.

It’s crucial to continue practicing effective communication and coparenting to make sure vacations can be planned properly and in a way that does not infringe on the other parent’s ability to spend time with the children. Here are a few tips.

• Plan ahead: The earlier you start planning, the more you’ll be able to work around both parents’ schedules and make sure there are backup plans for how the parent not going on the trip will be able to spend time with the children to make up for the time they’ll be missing out on when they’re gone. Most agreements provide a time frame for electing your vacation weeks. This enables both parents time to plan a vacation and/or firm up summer plans for children.
• Consider the calendar: Try to work around important dates on the calendar so the other parent isn’t missing out on things like birthdays, Father’s Day, the 4^th of July or anything else that might come up over the summer. Most agreements provide that you cannot elect a vacation during the other parents scheduled holiday.
• Give older children a voice: If older children have preferences for how you’ll schedule vacation times, get them involved as well. It can be helpful to have everyone contributing and on the same page.
• Relax: Do your best when actually on vacation to relax and enjoy yourselves. It’s good to have time to get away and spend time with the children. Don’t feel guilty for taking them with you, or anxious about what awaits you when you return home. So long as you’ve communicated and planned in advance, it should go smoothly!

For more tips, contact a trusted divorce lawyer at Jakubowski, Robertson, Maffei & Tartaglia LLP.