Helping you cross the

legal finish line

Make a solid child custody plan for summer

Your children might be among many others in Michigan who regularly attend summer time day camps or attend sports training camps or other extra-curricular activities. If they’re not old enough to drive, their summer schedules might be challenging for you in trying to arrange transportation for them. If you’ve recently filed for divorce, challenges may be intensified because you’ll no longer have two parents under one roof who can drive. 

While there are many issues to resolve when you settle a divorce, a top priority is to create a child custody plan. It’s a good idea to incorporate specific details about summer time, especially if your kids are often involved in activities outside the home.  

Write out terms of agreement for vacations 

Family life goes on after divorce, and it’s understandable that you’d still want your kids to enjoy their favorite traditions, such as taking a summer vacation to the beach or other location. When you divorce, it’s important to remember that your ex may also want to travel with the kids. In order to avoid conflict, it’s best if you discuss your vacation plans ahead of time.  

In fact, you might consider creating a summer schedule that includes all dates, times and locations for special events and vacations. When you have written terms of agreement about summer travel, it becomes part of your child custody order, meaning you and your ex are obligated to adhere to the terms you agreed on.  

Who will supervise children while you work? 

Another priority topic in a divorce that involves in children is daily supervision during summer while parents are at work. Perhaps you were a stay-at-home parent during marriage but now will have to work full time outside the home. You can help your children avoid stress by mapping out a plan for their care.  

Your schedule might enable you and your ex to take turns caring for the children while each other is at work. If you both work at the same time, you might decide to pay for child care, in which case, you’ll need to resolve the financial issues associated with the decision.  

The court always has children’s best interests in mind 

 No matter what your specific child custody plan looks like on paper, you can be certain that the judge overseeing your divorce will make decisions with your children’s best interests in mind.  

The court can also intervene if you’re legal problems arise regarding your child custody agreement. For instance, if your ex disregards an existing court order, the presiding judge can take steps to enforce it.