Planning for Summer
As the school year winds down, and summer fever begins to hit, parents face decisions about summer parenting time and activities. The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson is also gearing up for summer, by assisting families in creating a summer parenting schedule or ensuring that an existing schedule is up to date and advising individuals about their summer travel plans and what they need to do in order to mitigate conflict.
Summer Parenting Time: It is important to re-read your court ordered parenting plan or Allocation Judgment and remind yourself of the obligations you have to your children and your co-parent during summer. Some families keep the same routine schedule during the summer months, potentially with the addition of week-long vacation stretches. However, for those families who have additional parenting time in the summer or a different schedule perhaps due to living in separate states or for other reasons, it is important to take note and follow that summer schedule. If you believe that the summer schedule is no longer practical, be proactive and discuss your concerns with your co-parent. Also, check the notice and itinerary requirements for any summer schedule, which may be dependent on a camp schedule as well. If you wish to modify or establish a summer parenting schedule, contact The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson LLC for an initial consultation to learn about the process.
Summer Vacations: If you plan to take a trip over the summer, it is best to give notice to your co-parent as soon as possible in order to avoid last minute conflict. Fostering communication while traveling may also be a requirement in the parenting plan. It is important that your children’s best interests are always kept in mind, which may mean allowing facetime or phone calls while you are traveling. If you are not comfortable with your co-parents’ vacation plans, this should be addressed sooner than later. All of these concerns can be dealt with in mediation, with a parenting coordinator, or through the court system if necessary.
Summer Camp: Decisions regarding signing children up for summer camp may be a joint or sole decision, so be sure to consult the Allocation Judgment if one exists. If your matter is still pre-decree, start these discussions early to reach a camp resolution. Keep in mind that if you make a unilateral decision regarding summer camp that was not allowed, it may result in you bearing the sole cost of the camp or your child not attending, which is avoidable by advance communications and planning.
If one parent does have the authority to select camp, notice should be given to a co-parent of the camp dates and time, so that they are aware their parenting time will be affected and have knowledge of where the child is attending camp that summer. If the decision making is joint, it is important for both parents to work together to pick a camp that takes the minor child’s interests into consideration, but also that is financially possible for each parent if they both are contributing to the costs. There are many considerations to make when considering summer camp, whether to chose a day camp or overnight camp, how long the child should attend camp, and the location of the camp..
If your family has not yet put an Allocation Judgment into place, it is in your family's best interest that steps are taken in order to do so. Without an Allocation Judgment, the roles of each parent and parenting time may be open ended, and lead to conflict as a result. If you have any questions regarding your Allocation Judgment or parenting plan, or taking the next steps to creating one, please contact The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson for a consultation at 312-767-4220.
NOTICE: This blog is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as providing legal advice. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding this blog post.