School’s Out For Summer: Managing Summertime Custody
Do you smell that? The smell of wood burning and scorched, sugary marshmallows. Do you taste that? The taste of pasta salad, hamburgers, and those white, crumbly cookies with the extra thick, dye-filled frosting. Can you guess what time of year it is? Yup. It’s summertime in good ole’ Pennsylvania. And with summertime usually comes a change in your current custody arrangement. While the current schedule may have worked during the school year, with family vacations, summer camps, extracurricular activities, and other summer fun, that current schedule will likely clash with the new seasonal goings-on. Now’s the time to take a look at your current Pennsylvania custody order and make sure you and your child’s other parent are on the same page about the upcoming months.
Some custody orders don’t include a summer schedule. If you feel concerned that custody issues will cause things to get heated – and not because of the summer heat – between you and your child’s other parent, nip it in the bud now. Take some time to chat together and map out exactly what these few summer months have in store. If you do come to an agreement, kudos to you for your excellent negotiation skills! Just remember: unless filed with the court, no verbal or written custody agreement will be valid. But, never fear. It’s simple for us to help you write a consent order and file it with the court. Easy peasy.
Now, you may be thinking: “Nialyn… you know my baby’s dad (or mom) isn’t reasonable. He (or she) is not going to agree to let me take our child on vacation!” No worries! Modifying a current custody order is no problem, and the court views reasonable vacations favorably. So, if you didn’t just randomly decide to vacation in Antarctica for the entirety of the summer, you’ll more than likely be permitted to go on vacation. It is, however, important for you to get the ball rolling. The court’s schedule can fill up quickly, and you don’t want to have to worry if you are permitted to take your vacation only a few days before you’re scheduled to leave.
If you don’t currently have a Pennsylvania custody court order, take some time to chat with your child’s other parent about the upcoming summer schedule. By talking about any potential issues or scheduling conflicts now, you can save yourself many headaches later. It may also be a good idea to have a consent order prepared that memorializes the upcoming summer schedule. The consent order, which will be filed with the court, will keep everyone honest – and of course, you’re always the honest one. It’s the other parent we’re concerned about. *wink, wink*
We understand that summertime is supposed to be fun! Give us a call today and we can help ease all your summer custody woes. Heck. We’ll even bring potato salad and cornbread to your next family cookout.
…okay…. we aren’t great cooks. So, consider it a favor that we won’t bring that stuff… or attend the cookout.
*Our office accepts Pennsylvania family law cases including divorce, equitable distribution, spousal support, alimony pendente lite, alimony, paternity and child support matters, child custody cases, juvenile law cases, and related matters in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Beaver County, Berks County, Butler County, Clearfield County, Washington County, and Westmoreland County (Greensburg).
Our law firm accepts Pennsylvania family law cases from other Pennsylvania counties including Armstrong County (Kittanning), Clarion County, Fayette County, Greene County, Indiana County, Lawrence County, Mercer County, Somerset County, and Venango County.*
