Ways to deal with custody issues around the holidays
The holiday season in North Carolina can bring with it difficult decisions about how to juggle two separate households for the child or children of divorce. Even the wisest and most even tempered parents have a tough time figuring out the custody arrangements around significant events such as Christmas. Divorce is often said to be hardest upon the children, and holiday situations often support that belief.
Experts are aware of this situation and mention the fact that family courts have a tendency to fill up around the holiday season, with custody disputes often being a focus. Many parents choose to alternate years, where the child spends one holiday with one parent in one year and in the next year with the other, if the situation permits.
A written parenting time plan can help to avoid these issues. Although each plan will be custom designed for the parents and children that it governs, the salient facts are that it should be in writing and both parents should agree to it. This gives a firm foundation from which to proceed as well as providing a way for the court to understand the situation if a problem subsequently arises.
Custody battles have the potential to be traumatic to everyone involved, especially the children that both parents will naturally wish to shield from the consequences of the dissolution of the marriage. Family law attorneys will tell their clients that the focus of courts when dealing with these types of matters will be the best interests of the child, and parents who are in such a dispute should follow that precept as well.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Holidays, Divorce and Who Gets The Children?”, Jason Levoy, Dec. 23, 2015