Co-Parenting During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Aura Engel, Esq.
Excerpt from 5TJT.com
Because of the coronavirus, many divorced couples are confronted with a new hurdle in family dynamics: how to maintain and support parenting schedules while following health and safety directives. Co-parenting presents challenges on a normal day, but this “new normal” needs a new script.
One of the issues divorced parents face is reaching an appropriate custody or parenting plan for children. A temporary or permanent parenting time schedule is memorialized into a written agreement/contract, or order. Sometimes, the parties may have an informal agreement. Children, especially when they are young, are not involved in managing or modifying the schedule.
What then happens to the parenting plan with the added requirements of social distancing? Ideally, as long as both parents are healthy and taking necessary precautions, the parties should continue to follow their parenting agreement and court orders. However, depending on the parents’ work schedules and others in the household things may not be so simple…