Planning a schedule can be particularly important as kids go back to school after a divorce. Whether child custody is jointly shared or one parent has primary custody, understanding the children’s schedule around the school year can make everyone’s lives easier. It is good for both parents to clarify how the schedule can be maintained. Some people may use scheduling services like Our Family Wizard while others will opt for less formal solutions like a Google calendar shared to various addresses. In either case, it is important that both parents and the children have access to the calendar and can anticipate upcoming plans.

Both parents can review the official school calendar and designate who is responsible for holidays, in-service days and half days throughout the year. School events, performances and trips can be important for parent-child bonding. Therefore, it may be important for both parents to be present for these activities.

When parents think about child custody issues, handling the academic year can be a major challenge and an opportunity for the parenting plan to work effectively. A family law attorney could help a divorcing spouse reach a fair agreement on a number of matters related to the children’s education, including financial obligations and parenting schedules.

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Working from that starting point, co-parents could develop consistent rules between their households so that children experience stable expectations about behavior. When people with different views about parenting find this task challenging, they should focus on basic standards. The establishment of largely similar rules at both homes could prevent parental arguments about how to discipline children.

To overcome forgetfulness about custodial schedules, parents could place 12-month calendars in their homes that show important dates and times, like vacations or holidays. A calendar might help all parties avoid scheduling conflicts. For day-to-day communications, the mental health counselor recommended that people correspond in writing instead of verbally. Text messages, emails or online messages create concrete records about children’s needs and scheduling adjustments. Written communications also reduce the likelihood of emotional exchanges, which could escalate during face-to-face or telephone conversations.

When ending a relationship, a parent might want the representation of an attorney when negotiating custodial schedules or communication protocols. These elements can be written into the terms of the final child custody agreement. To broker compromises, an attorney could suggest approaches that have worked for other families. With legal support, a person might limit emotional confrontations with the other parent. Information about parental rights provided by an attorney might enable a person to focus on achieving a fair custody schedule that fulfills the best interests of the children.

Source: Psych Central, “10 Essentials of Co-Parenting After a Divorce“, Christine Hammond, July 6, 2018

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The answer to that question depends on the following three factors:

1. Which type of custody (s)he has
2. Whether or not you object to the move
3. Whether or not the two of you can come to a new agreement with regard to visitation

Sole versus joint physical custody

If your ex-spouse has permanent sole physical custody of your children, also called primary physical custody, the only way you can stop the move is by going to court and presenting compelling evidence that this move will harm your children in some substantial way. If the two of you have joint physical custody of the children, however, then if you object to the move the burden of proof shifts to him or her to convince the judge that this move is in the best interests of the children as well as his or her own best interests.

New parenting plan

Your ex-spouse needs judicial permission to move your kids out of state even if you do not object to it. If this is the case, the two of you should write a new parenting plan that takes into account how far away you now will be living from each other and makes provision for your substantial continued involvement in your children’s lives.

For instance, rather than just seeing your children on alternating holidays, now maybe you can have them for the entire week surrounding the alternating holidays. Another idea is for the children to stay with you during most if not all of their summer vacations. You also may wish to look into “virtual visitation” apps that you and your children can use to basically video conference each other via computer or phone.

Whatever new parenting plan you and your ex-spouse agree to, the judge must approve it before your ex-spouse can relocate with the children.

Out-of-state travel

You may not realize that your ex-spouse also needs judicial permission, as well as your permission, to take your children out-of-state on a vacation or an extended visit to the homes of distant relatives. Judicial permission is especially important if (s)he wants to take the children out of the country for these vacations or visits.

As you are discovering, you and your ex-spouse are still tied to each other even though you are divorced. The two of you must continue to communicate with each other frequently at least until your youngest child reaches the age of 21 or finishes college, whichever occurs last.

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A visitation schedule may still be created in the event that parents have joint custody over their kids. This can reduce the odds that parents fight or otherwise have disagreements that could impact the children. Such a calendar will have the dates and times at which a parent will be able to see his or her child. It will also have the location at which the visit may take place, and a judge can stipulate whether it is supervised in nature.

The terms of a custody schedule may be determined in part by how far the parents live from each other. It could also be determined by input from the parents themselves as well as professionals who work with the court. If the child is old enough, he or she may offer input into a child custody schedule. After the schedule is finalized, it is binding on all parties.

In a child custody case, there are many factors that decide how often a parent can contact or spend time with a son or daughter. The proximity of the parent to the child as well as his or her fitness to parent are often two of the main factors. However, the overriding factor when creating an order is typically meeting the needs of the child. In some cases, the parents may decide for themselves how to meet this criteria by holding mediation sessions with their lawyers.

The post An overveiw of how to divide child custody first appeared on Sacramento Divorce Lawyer.

To start, it’s important to remember there are two types of child custody parents will need to consider: legal custody and physical custody.

Types of custody

Physical custody, of course, determines with whom the children will reside. Joint physical custody does not necessarily mean an even 50/50 split, as it is sometimes logistically better for the children to spend more time with one parent. That parent is the “primary custodial parent.”

Legal custody grants the right to make important decisions for the children. Legal custody is not dependent on that parent having physical custody – even if they do not live with the children, they still have the right to make these decisions.

How does legal custody work?

Legal custody can be jointly held or solely appointed to one parent. Whoever has legal custody has the right to make decisions about the children’s welfare, including:

• School or child care
• Religious activities or institutions
• Psychiatric, psychological or other mental health counseling or therapy needs
• Doctor, dentist, orthodontist or other health professional needs (except in emergencies)
• Sports, summer camp, vacations or other extracurricular activities
• Travel
• Residence

Parents who share legal custody have the right to make these decisions, but do not legally have to agree on every aspect of the children’s lives. However, parents can avoid problems or ending up back in court by communicating openly and compromising with one another.

What if we don’t agree?

If parents can reach an agreement on legal and physical custody through negotiation, a judge will generally sign off on it. But if the parents cannot agree, it becomes a contested custody case.

The court will order evaluations in order to determine a final ruling. It is not uncommon for a judge to grant parents joint legal custody but grant sole physical custody to one parent, granting the other parent visitation.

Parent should do their best to negotiate a custody agreement for both legal and physical custody, as it is less time consuming, expensive and emotionally draining for both parties. It also gives both parents more control in determining what is best for the children’s future and who will have a say in those decisions.

The post Legal and physical custody: What’s the difference? first appeared on Sacramento Divorce Lawyer.