Our Pinellas County Child Custody Attorney Offers Holiday Parenting Time Tips

For Pinellas County parents, going through a divorce or breakup from a partner can be devastating. Facing the prospect of the holidays can make it even harder.

Our Seminole child custody/visitation attorney provides caring support and trusted, local legal guidance to clients in these cases, protecting their rights as parents and the best interests of their children. With the holidays fast approaching, we offer tips on creating a parenting plan and how to get through the season.

Pinellas County Parenting Plans: Who Gets Custody Over The Holidays?

In Pinellas County child custody cases, the Florida Statutes generally encourage both parents to take an active role in the child’s life, dividing parental rights and responsibilities between them. However, if you are getting a divorce or just coming off a breakup, negotiations between you and the other party regarding parenting time will likely get contentious.

Remember to put your child’s best interests first while also allowing for your own schedule. You will need to determine how time gets divided between each parent’s home during the week and on weekends, school breaks, birthdays, and holidays.

Disputes are common when negotiating child custody arrangements in Pinellas County, particularly concerning the winter holiday season. Each parent may have family functions and other special events they want the child to attend, as well as holiday dinners, gift-giving, and other festivities. Providing there are no issues that put the child at potential risk, you generally have three options:

• Alternate custody each year, which will mean spending every other holiday without your child;
• Alternate the days each parent has custody, such as going to one parent the night before the holiday;
• Divide the child’s time between the two parent’s homes, which is likely to prove hectic and may not be in the child’s best interests.

Approaching The Holiday Season As A Newly Single Parent

Regardless of which of the above or other plans you make for sharing child custody in Seminole during the holiday season, it is important to make sure these arrangements are included as part of a final order. This helps protect your child and your parental rights in the Pinellas County Family Court.

Aside from the legal arrangements, the holidays can be challenging to deal with as a single parent, particularly if a breakup happened recently. The following tips can help you approach it with a more hopeful attitude:

• Forget the idea of a perfect holiday season;
• Take the pressure off everyone and avoid overscheduling activities;
• Emphasize that it is okay if you or your children feel sad;
• Rather than over-romanticizing traditions from the past, focus on new ones to add this year.

Contact Our Pinellas County Child Custody Attorney

Going through a breakup during the holidays is always difficult. For parents facing this situation, the Reep Law Firm offers caring support and the professional local legal representation needed in negotiating a parenting plan. To protect yourself and your child’s best interests, contact our Pinellas County child custody attorney. Request a consultation today.

Sources:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.13.html

flcourts.gov/content/download/686031/file_pdf/995a.pdf

mypinellasclerk.gov/Home/Family