Co-Parenting During COVID-19

20 Apr Co-Parenting During COVID-19

Learning to co-parent with another can, at any time, be a complicated but necessary part of ensuring that your child feels safe and well-loved by both parents in their life.  Having a working coparenting relationship helps children adjust better to new family dynamic that presents itself when parents are living in two separate households.

During times of uncertainty, like the present COVID-19 outbreak, maintaining that working co-parenting relationship can be difficult as stress and the unknown can cause all of us to feel anxious and worried about the health of our children and ourselves.  Parents may feel like existing possession schedules are not relevant and alterations should be made depending on the health status of all involved.

The Texas courts have been quite clear during this COVID-19 pandemic – which is to say that all current possession schedules for your children that are laid out in your most recent court order will remain the same, as if your children are still attending school and will go back and forth from each parent’s residence accordingly.  If you are unsure of what the Texas courts have specifically ordered, please go to txcourts.gov and your county’s district clerk’s website for more information, i.e. for Denton County.

We are now looking towards the end of the typical school year for our children and a transition to the summer possession schedule.  The summer schedule set out in your most recent court order stands as well – meaning that, for parents with a standard possession schedule, the non-primary parent is entitled to 30 days of possession of the children and the primary parent had the choice to designate a weekend during that time to have possession of the children.  In this uncertain time, we encourage co-parents to communicate more openly and be flexible with one another as concern over COVID-19 is to be expected.  However, it is important to keep in mind that parents must obey the possession schedules that are court ordered for their families.

If you have any questions, please call one of our attorneys at Navarrette Bowen, P.C. to help you navigate this unprecedented situation.