Whether or not we are past the peak of another COVID-19 outbreak is not the purpose of our discussion today on the blog. I would like to discuss how child custody and Visitation may need to look different after we have dealt with a pandemic that most of us never believed we would ever have to encounter during our lives. This pandemic has forced us to reevaluate what is most important to us and determine how our parenting in family wives may change once the worst of the pandemic is behind us.
From what I have seen, parents are more understanding of the issues presented by this pandemic now than they were four months ago. Many believe that the pandemic would either fizzle out on its own after a relatively short time or that it would be something that had even more of a dramatic effect on our area than it already has. Without a doubt, the health and safety of our community are essential on a macro level. Still, on a personal level, your ability to raise your children and build relationships with them is what will be most important to all of us as individuals.
I’d like to emphasize today’s blog post towards helping you and your family adjust to life for the last weeks of summer heading into the school year. Changes can still happen Over the next few weeks regarding how and when our children will begin school in the fall. Many, if not most, school districts and schools in our area have indicated that they will start on time and will make modifications to the school year if necessary as time goes on. We should talk about how the two issues of child custody and Visitation could look for the rest of the summer and into the fall and winter months.
Child custody post COVID-19
Child custody refers to a combination of possession and custody rights about your children. With control in a divorce or actual child custody case, parents typically focus mainly on the time aspects of parenting. When you were first forced to encounter not being able to spend as much time as you want with the children, it is understandable that this would be the focus of most family law cases.
However, I believe that it is just as important for parents to focus on making decisions and holding rights related to raising their children. Determining how and where your child goes to school in the types of medical treatment they receive is always very important. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope that we have all come to understand a little bit more clearly just how important it is for parents to be able to make these types of educational and medical decisions for their children. Our children need our help in this regard now more than ever.
So, child custody cannot merely be looked at from the lens of time or rights and duties. It is just as important to look at this topic as one that impacts many areas of our lives in both the short and long term. In a short time, you need to work together with your co-parent to determine what is best for your child concerning educational and medical decisions. For instance, if your child school district or to say that they were not going to hold school in person for the next year is that something that you are comfortable with, the idea of your child attending school online for at least one year may be enough for some parents 212 move their child into a private school or nontraditional school that offers classes in person rather than online. How does your co-parent feel about this issue? If you do not know, then you need to find out.
The only way you can discover your co-parents’ feelings about these sorts of topics is to ask them. Have these communication sessions in advance of problems arising, and you will be better off. Remember, the purpose of co-parenting is to present a united front to your child to allow for better decisions to be made for their upbringing. By acknowledging the contributions that your Co-parent can make with raising your child, you are engaging in a much healthier and more stable structure for your child when it comes to parenting.
The medical side of custody changes after the COVID-19 peak is readily apparent as well. If your child needs any kind of immunizations before the new school year starting, then you and your Co-parent may have been putting off taking them to the doctor due to concerns over getting sick from other persons at the doctor’s office. I can tell you that my wife and I did not take our child for her yearly checkup on the date that she was scheduled to go. Instead, we decided to wait rather than take her during the peak of the crisis.
In our situation, this wasn’t something that ended up hurting our child. Luckily, she is healthy and has no conditions that would make us raise an eyebrow or concern her health from having missed a yearly checkup. However, suppose you and your co-parent find yourself in a situation where your child has health issues that need regular review by a doctor. In that case, you need to work together and figure out how to share decision-making abilities in this regard.
In emergencies, likely, you and your co-parent would still make independent choices about potentially lifesaving medical treatment. However, since the peak of this virus, your opinions may have changed regarding how their rights and duties should be shared with medical treatment. If that is the case, then you may need to explore whether or not it is in your child’s best interest to modify any prior custody orders so that you may be able to be in a better position to have your order reflect your current feelings on custody rights and medical treatment for your child.
Possible changes in visitation structure after the COVID-19 peak
For most families in our area, visitation changes during the pandemic have probably been the most widespread. At least initially during the pandemic, our government instituted various stay-at-home orders that restricted or outright banned travel of several types. If you live outside the state of Texas and typically drive or fly into the state to have visitation time with your child, you may have been unable to do that for periods during this pandemic. On the other hand, if you live out of state and your child from Texas was supposed to come and visit you, that may have proved to be difficult considering some states put quarantines in place on any persons from Texas who would come to conditions in the northeast, for example.
With this backdrop in mind, it is essential to note that families of all kinds have had to deal with changes in Visitation due to the reality is presented by this virus. We haven’t even mentioned what would happen If you or your child were to get sick and how Visitation would need to be altered at least temporarily because of illness. This is not something that only comes up during pandemics, but it is vital to discuss, nonetheless.
If your visitation time with your child needed to be adjusted during the pandemic due to illness, then I would imagine that this time is when you and your family have to communicate with one another about rescheduling visitation sessions before the beginning of the school year. I think Visitation schedules must be made up right now because it is easier to arrange a makeup visitation schedule during the summer than during the school year. With more time commitments to a child’s schedule, there is less time for Visitation to occur. The summer is a much more open time. Or longer stretches of Visitation can be made up easier.
So, it would help if you spoke with your co-parent about how you all want to manage any makeup necessary visitation schedule. If a parent or child were sick for long periods, then you may not be able to pack all of the makeup visitations into the next few weeks before the school year begins. If that is the case, you need to have a schedule drawn up that will allow for Visitation To remain up during the school year. Extra weekends may be provided to the parent who was denied time during the summer due to illness.
Avoiding Holidays as potential periods where makeup visitation can occur is likely going to be desirable. The reason being is that there is plenty of time to make up Visitation that would involve the few holidays breaks the children get during the school year. If you need to make up time with your child, you should make changes to your schedule or speak with your Co-parent about doing it during the school year and not during Holidays.
Closing thoughts on child custody and Visitation after the peak of COVID-19
the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted different people to different degrees. If you or someone in your family got sick from the virus, then It is safe to say that you bore the brunt of its impact much more acutely. For the rest of us, the effects from the shutdowns likely meant mask requirements and another social distancing measure. Regardless, we have all had to make changes to our lives due to the virus, and you probably had to do the same as parents after the COVID-19 pandemic has peaked.
My advice is to work with your co-parent directly on coordinating any changes to your parenting plan that have come about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not worth coming up with strategies and ideas and not sharing them with your co-parent. It takes two people to come up with temporary modifications to an order, and that means you and your co-parent have to discuss the changes before they go into effect. And if you are not willing or able to do this, then your child will be the one to bear the brunt have any miscommunication.
On a long term basis, if you believe that you were in a position where the best interests of your child are impacted adversely by child custody or divorce decree about Visitation or child custody, then you should begin to research hiring an attorney who can assist you informally modifying that court order. Sometimes, you can negotiate through any changes that need to be made temporarily with your co-parent. However, there will often be instances where you may need to negotiate these changes with the assistance of an attorney.
Questions about child custody and Visitation after the COVID-19 pandemic passes? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions regarding the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free of charge consultations six days a week in our office, over the phone, and via video. Our attorneys and staff take a great deal of pride in representing members of our community just like you, and we would be honored to speak to you about how our office can best serve you and your family.
Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.
Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.
His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.
Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.
