Email - 
Call now - 
The question of where, and with whom, children will spend Christmas can be a difficult one for any separated parents. With Christmas fast approaching, now’s the time to agree how your children will spend time with their other parent during the holidays.
There are no set rules for how you should approach child arrangements over Christmas but we thought it may be helpful to share with you how we have seen clients approach this in the past.
Here are some of our top tips…
- Keep your children at the heart of your decision making
Try to focus on what is important for your children and their needs. It can be easy for the desires of each parent to cloud their judgement about what would be in the best interests of the children on the day.
- Communicate
During any part of important decision making, communication with the relevant people included in the matter is key. Talk openly about what both parents would like to see happen over the Christmas break and work from there to formulate your plans.
- Stick to the plan
Last minute changes can cause feelings of disruption and uncertainty for children. It is important to maintain consistency and provide stability. It is essential that whatever arrangements you come to, you both stick to the plan.
- Think about wider family
Try to be pragmatic about where and when the families will be together and include that in your decision making. There is still an opportunity to bring wider family members into the bubble. This can include grandparents, aunts, and uncles etc.
- Get advice early, if needed
At Aston Bond we understand that Christmas can be chaotic and organising co-parenting schedules on top of everything else is never going to be easy, especially if communication between you and your ex-partner is difficult.
If you are struggling this year, take advice from our very own family lawyer Lynette A’Court on lacourt@astonbond.co.uk who can try to assist in negotiating an agreement.
