Summer can cause custody issues, especially for single parents who have to work. You and your ex-spouse may already have plans in place for the school year, but summer is more difficult. Your child may not be old enough to stay home alone, and neither you nor your ex may have enough time off work to avoid having babysitters or others in place to monitor your child.
Handling summer break can be tough. There are, however, a few good ideas that can help with your summer custody schedule.
Talk to your boss about a new schedule
One thing you may want to do is to talk to your employer about a special, or more flexible, summer schedule. Some companies will allow employees to bring their kids to work because of custody-related issues. Others may adjust the schedule to give parents more hours on the days when they don’t have custody, so they can be available to their children on the days when they do.
Keep your schedule, but plan for extra costs
Some parents keep the same schedule but plan for extra costs associated with childcare. For example, if you will need to have a babysitter stay in your home Monday through Friday for four hours a day, then the cost of that care should be discussed. Will you share the expenses? Will the parent who earns more cover it? That’s something to work out early.
Keep your child enrolled in classes
A third option may be to keep your child enrolled in summer classes. If they run the same hours during the day, then you may be able to keep your school-year custody schedule in place or make minimal changes to adapt it.
These are a few ideas for how to handle summer custody issues. Every situation is different, but remember to seek a modification of your custody plan if it will change significantly.
