Tips: Making arrangements for your children

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

Making arrangements for your children is not the easiest situation. Here are some tips that may make things easier for both you and your ex-partner. These effective arrangements for your child are important decisions for all the family.

Plan ahead
It helps to plan ahead so that everyone knows where they stand, and to avoid. If it is difficult to plan ahead, such as if you works shifts, try to agree some basic guidelines. These could include how many days a week a child spends with each parent, and how much notice you should both give. If there is a school trip or a friend?s party coming up that affects the usual arrangements, give the other parent as much notice as you can; it will make it easier to change dates and times if necessary.

Avoid sudden changes to plans if possible
It’s difficult for everyone if plans change at short notice, but this will sometimes happen. Try to be as flexible as you can, but review arrangements that seem to frequently need changing at short notice.

Agree arrangements for significant days
Try to agree in advance how your child will spend important dates, such as birthdays and religious festivals. It is common for parents to take turns seeing their children on special days, alternating each year. Older children should be involved in the decisions.

Make arrangements for holidays
It?s easier to reach an agreement by planning ahead. It?s common for parents to share school holidays. Depending on your child?s age and understanding, he or she could be involved in planning the arrangements so they feel included and secure. If you or your child?s other parent are worried about your child going away, share as much information as possible about the trip. This could include travel and accommodation arrangements, and contact details.

Taking your child abroad
Depending on whether your child?s other parent has parental responsibility, you may need consent to take your child abroad.

If your child has a relationship with their other parent and sees them regularly, let them know the travel arrangements, even if you don?t need their consent.

If you?re the only person with parental responsibility you don’t need the consent of the other parent to take your child abroad.

If there?s someone else with parental responsibility you need their consent unless you have a residence order or child arrangements order where you are named as the parent with residence.

If you have a child arrangements order stating that your child lives with you you can take them abroad for up to one month without the consent of anyone else with parental responsibility, unless there is a court order preventing you.

If you have a child arrangements order which stipulates when your child stays with each parent you will need to stick to arrangement in the order, so in practice, you will probably need consent so that you don?t break the terms of the order.

Get support when things get difficult
You might want to share your experiences and get support from friends or other single parents who have been through the same situation. You can also contact Kids Need Both Parents for further support. Either contact us through our website www.knbp.co.uk or call us on 01675430125.

Source: GingerBread