03/14/2020
THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 GLOBAL PANDEMIC ON VISITATION ORDERS
As most people with school age children are aware, the Spring Break holidays are upon us. Most of the local school districts are recognizing Spring Break either this week or next, and the vast majority of schools in our area have annouced school closures for the next 2 or 3 weeks. If you have children that are the subject of a court-ordered visitation schedule, you may be confused about how the Spring Break vacation period will work this year. Some districts are calling their school closures "extended Spring Breaks" while others are calling it simply a "school closure."
We have received almost 20 calls from clients and people that are confused about how this should work or what to do. The simple answer is - THERE IS NO SPECIFIC ANSWER. Most court orders provide that the children are to be returned either when school resumes or on the day before school resumes after the Spring Break holiday. However, the intent of the court orders and the Texas Legislature did not take into account a crisis such as the one facing us at the current time.
Our best advice to both custodial parents and the non-custodial parents is this - DO NOT USE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION SUCH AS THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE OVER THE OTHER PARENT WITH REGARD TO VISITATION OF YOUR CHILDREN. We are urging all parents to compromise and work together, by splitting this unexpected time off from school. Many parents with younger children will have serious conflicts with their their jobs while trying to take care of their kids, so please work together.
Remember, when you get before a judge in any family court, you want to appear to be the reasonable parent that tries to work things out and co-parent with the other. However, if your situation is unique, or you need to discuss this matter in greater detail with a Board Certified Family Law attorney, then please call our office at (713) 236-0000.
Everyone be safe, and God bless you and your families.
