Tips for Establishing a Visitation Schedule This Holiday Season
Divorce can be a complicated process, especially when children are involved. One of divorce’s most challenging aspects when working with a divorce attorney is establishing visitation schedules, particularly during the holidays. In this situation, it is crucial to construct a clear and legally enforceable visitation schedule with the help of a family law attorney. With that in mind, here are some tips for establishing a visitation schedule this holiday season that best serves your family.
Schedule Holidays in Advance
Starting these discussions early with the other parent, either yourself or through your divorce attorney is key to establishing an amicable holiday visitation schedule that works best for everyone, especially your Children. Avoiding last-minute holiday arrangements will mitigate the possibility of heated arguments and ego-driven disagreements. Most importantly, making holiday arrangements well in advance will help your Children prepare themselves to celebrate the holidays in separate households, which will empower them to enjoy themselves with each parent.
Factor in Transportation Needs
Consider the logistics of travel, pick-up, and drop-off times to ensure everyone can participate in holiday activities. Allocating which parent will pick up and which one will drop off and establishing reasonable timeframes is an essential part of all well-planned holiday visitation schedules. This requires the flexibility of both parents. These issues must be considered in every holiday visitation plan, to ensure that your Children enjoy themselves with each parent. This is especially true if one parent lives farther away. Accounting for the need of extended travel time will allow sufficient opportunity for the Children to truly enjoy spending the Holiday with each parent. No one wants to feel rushed, especially during holiday meals or while opening presents. It’s important to allocate sufficient family time for each parent to spend with their children. Experienced custody lawyers and Family Law lawyers also recommend considering travel time when developing a holiday visitation schedule.
Review Your Child or Children’s Activities During the Holidays
As children get older, they may want to participate in different activities that take up more of their time. As a result, children may have less time to spend with each parent during the holiday or during their breaks from school. Children’s activities can pose challenges for parents trying to co-parent effectively and equitably divide the Holidays with their Children. To create a manageable visitation schedule during the holidays, family law lawyers can help make sure you take into account things like school activities, extracurricular activities, and holiday parties. These issues require leaving sufficient time to address issues, develop an appropriate holiday schedule and ensure that it is as enjoyable and stress free for everyone involved, especially for the Children.
Consult a Family Law Attorney
If you’re having difficulty reaching a visitation agreement with your ex-partner and you’ve found yourself searching “family attorney near me” consider consulting a visitation and custody lawyer to help create a mutually agreeable holiday visitation schedule. An experienced family law attorney, who understands Maryland Custody Law in Baltimore County, Howard County, Carroll County, and many other counties in Maryland can help ensure that your holiday visitation schedule is fair and reasonable for both parents and works to serve the Children’s best interests.
If you are interested in the advocacy and counsel of an experienced family law attorney to help you reach an amicable holiday visitation schedule that works best for your family, contact ZM Law Group today to schedule a consultation.
