Contact with your child this christmas

Arranging time with the children over Christmas

Sharing time with the children over the Christmas period can be a simple process for some parents, with some being able to simply pick up the phone and ask if they could see the children that day. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case and agreeing contact can be particularly difficult, especially around festive seasons when parents often argue about who can have the children on which days. It is important to always think about what’s best for your child when making contact arrangements. James Skinner, Associate Solicitor and Family Law specialist at Simpson Millar has four tips that can make arranging contact easier for non-resident parents this Christmas:

• Communicate – putting arguments aside and co-operating will make trying to arrange time far easier. Parenting Plans can help you reach a fair schedule and importantly – to stick to it.
• Plan ahead – The earlier the better. This will alleviate pressure and show clear intentions on both sides.
• Put children first – amongst the chaos of reaching a schedule that best suits you and the other parent, it's easy for parents to forget to ask what the children want or consider what's best for them.
• Be flexible – It can be difficult to split contact equally over busy holidays – you could compromise and agree for the other parent to have the children on Christmas day this year, but you can swap next year.

As with all such agreements it is always better to decide on the arrangements for the children yourselves and, with the help of a solicitor, have the arrangements certified by the court. Alternatively, if you can't agree, a solicitor can help you reach a fair arrangement through mediation.