As vacation season swiftly approaches, many families are starting to think about how they will be spending their summer weekends and time off. For divorced couples, there may be a certain amount of anxiety over how the summer season will work out.
Coordinating schedules between parents can difficult, depending on the changing needs of the parents and the children, as well as the parenting time arrangement they have in place. What happens, though, when a parenting plan is not clear about how to deal with certain circumstances and a couple disagrees?
For one thing, it is important for parents to establish a parenting time agreement that works for them in the long-term. Parenting time agreements can take different forms for different couples. Getting the right balance of flexibility and detail in a parenting plan can help couples avoid problems down the road.
In addition to this, it is important for couples to set forth a process for resolving disputes regarding parenting time when they arise. Couples could agree, for example to participate in counseling, mediation, or arbitration, or they could agree to resolve all disputes in court. It really is up to the couple and the process they think will work best for them. Every couple is different, so the right process will not be the same for all.
Something else to keep in mind is that sometimes couples find that the parenting plan they established in court is no longer serving the changing needs of their family. When this happens, it may be necessary to make modifications to the agreement. Couples who need guidance and advocacy in making parenting plan modifications should, of course, always work with experienced legal counsel.