Avoiding child custody complications during the summer

As summer approaches, many parents in Pennsylvania are deciding how they will spend time with their children. In many cases, this involves making travel plans, child care arrangements and decisions regarding extracurricular activities. These issues can be more complicated for parents who are no longer involved romantically and could require additional legal measures to be taken in regard to child custody.

In a perfect world, parents would be able to communicate openly and honestly about summer plans. As such, they would be able to compromise; however, this is not always the case. In some instances, a parent must ask for court intervention to modify a child custody plan to accommodate summer plans. Because courts do not always approve such requests, it may be beneficial to wait to finalize travel plans until after court proceedings. Additionally, it could take a couple of months for the court proceedings to be completed, making it necessary to ensure that requests are made early.

If a parent is traveling internationally, additional planning may be beneficial. For example, the parent may want to have a certified copy of their judgment with them in case of any issues. Additionally, writing a letter indicating a travel itinerary with the other parent’s notarized signature could potentially help avoid complications.

The summer holidays are an important time in the lives of children. It is a time for them to relax and, in some cases, rebuild and strengthen their relationship with a noncustodial parent. Unfortunately, many parents have difficulty coming to an agreement about how such holidays will be spent. As a result, many in Pennsylvania request a child custody modification from the court with the help of an attorney with family law experience.

Source: sierramadreweekly.com, “Navigating Child Custody During Summer Months”, Casey Marticorena and Don Schweitzer, April 27, 2016