Did your Easter holidays not go quite to plan?

Did you have difficulties seeing your child or children over the Easter holidays? If so, we are here to help. 

Holidays, be that Easter, Christmas, summer etc should be a time for parents to spend good, quality time with their children. However, that is not always the case, particularly when the child's parents are separated, as this can often make it more difficult for an agreement to be reached as to who the child will be with, and when, over the holiday period.  In addition, with blended families becoming more common, there is often a multitude of factors and people that need to be considered in arranging said holiday contact. 

So, if you find yourself in this situation, what can you do?

• Plan well in advance: The academic calendars are released well in advance of the school holidays, so refer to them and try and discuss matters with your ex-partner as soon as you are able.  This will hopefully avoid any plans already having been made, and by directly speaking with your ex-partner, hopefully, an agreement regarding the holidays can be reached without issue.  Again, with blended families becoming more common, there will likely be a number of calendars which need to be taken into account, so the sooner you start this conversation, the better.
• Do not book anything until it is all agreed upon.  In many cases, the sooner the holiday is booked the better, and cheaper!  However, to avoid frustrations and/or disappointments further down the line, if matters aren’t agreed upon, don’t book the holiday.  You should try and agree to the holiday contact in writing first before making that booking – that can even be via text message or email so that you have a written record of what is agreed.  Alternatively, if a solicitor is involved, it could be agreed in writing between your respective solicitors.
• Agree on indirect contact too.  Agree with your ex-partner what indirect contact between the child and the parent who is not on holiday will look like.  How often will the contact take place? Will it be via text, phone or video call?  Again, get this sorted early so as to avoid any unnecessary arguments or upset whilst you are on holiday.

If, after taking the above steps, you are still unable to get the holiday contact agreed upon, there are a multitude of ways we, as family solicitors, can help if you are facing this problem.  Often, this issue can be resolved through solicitors discussing matters without the need to go to court in order to ask the sheriff for an order granting holiday contact – and we will endeavour to do this for you whenever possible.  However, sometimes going to court for an order is the only option and we can help you with that.  We are very experienced in helping parents navigate this, sometimes tricky process and so, please do get in touch if you need help.  And, the sooner you get in touch with us, the better so that we can work to resolve matters well in advance of the sun cream and beach towels having to be bought!