Who cares about the holidays in a Washington child custody agreement?

Who cares about the holidays in a Washington child custody agreement?

Who cares about the holidays in a Washington child custody agreement?

This is not sarcasm. It’s an honest question. Building a solid, working holiday schedule with your co-parent is not as simple as coordinating calendars. You may have to go all the way back to the drawing board, especially if you and your co-parent don’t share certain important points, such as:

Religious affiliation:

Many divorces happen over irreconcilable religious differences, but that could actually work in your favor here. If you do not celebrate the same holidays, there’s far less potential for disruption. But if those holidays fall on the same days, all bets are off.

Cultural background:

Aside from religion, most people also have significant cultural traditions. Many cultures do not celebrate the Western holidays of Christmas and the New Year. Although, if your family lives in the U.S., it will be hard for your family to ignore the coming holiday season.

Respect for tradition:

This is an extremely personal question, but you or your co-parent may simply not care for the holidays. However, ceding all holiday time simply because of a lack of enthusiasm for the holidays may not sound good to one parent.

Larger family ties:

Some families are simply larger than others, and those are families with a lot of holiday gravity. There is a pull for some members of large clans to spend more time with their families over the next few months. However, a large family isn’t any more of an automatic winning point when it comes to family time during the holidays.

How the law looks at holidays

In Washington, your parenting plan probably already has a lot of information about holiday planning and obligations. If those agreements do not work for you anymore, it’s perhaps time to consider pursuing a modification. Even when trying to find points of ease, it’s impossible not to run into complications. Open and honest communication – and a skilled attorney – can make a huge difference.