Do You Need to Alter Child Custody During the School Year?

Frequently, custody arrangements must be adjusted during the summer months to allow for a variety of things for kids. For some, summer may mean being involved in various activities, sports, camps, and even summer school. Because of the deviations in a child’s schedule during the summer months, divorced parents will likely have to adjust their custody agreements as well. And, as children get older it is likely that their schedule during the school year will vary each new year as well.

Do you need to alter child custody arrangements each school year? 

While it is not a requirement to adjust your custody agreement each year, often times it is imperative that the parents agree to changes due to the child’s schedule. Although it is common to have two basic schedules – one during the school year and one for holidays and school vacations – co-parents could undergo changes requiring major adjustments and modifications. Because of this fact it is important to consider the following questions when it comes to adjusting your current child custody order.

Are we being realistic? 

First, you must ask yourself if the current custody agreement plan afforded by the order reflects realistic expectations. If this is a recent divorce, it is possible that the custody arrangement was based on negative emotions. Such a situation could lead to an unrealistic custody order, and now that some time has passed it is critical to re-evaluate and develop a more realistic custody agreement.

Does our agreement match our child’s needs?

Next, you should ask whether your custody agreement reflects your child’s current activities and needs. As a child gets older their activities will change and it is likely that your agreement will need to be updated to reflect those changes.  As children get older, they tend to be involved in more things and be on the go more often. 

Are we communicating well?

Finally, you should ask yourself if you and your co-parent are able to maintain communication. If you can talk and work together, this is an excellent way for parents to continually work together to meet the growing and changing needs of the child. 

Although child custody modifications could occur at any time, summer vacation is a great timeframe for co-parents to consider whether a current custody order is working and whether any changes need to be made before the start of the new school year. If you are dealing with any custody or family law issues, it is important that you understand your rights.