Child Custody Challenges During The Pandemic

Are you experiencing child custody challenges and difficulties working with your co-parent due to the pandemic? Reach out to AF Law in Sacramento today.

Most co-parenting agreements weren’t created with the challenges of the pandemic in mind, so it’s easy to understand why parents are having difficulty deciding what is best for their children during this time. Many parents have found themselves wondering if it’s safe for their child to go back and forth between households and with a whole other host of other questions and concerns pertaining to their child’s safety and health.

From protecting your child and focusing on both their mental and physical health to keeping high-risk individuals in your household safe to balancing your job and other responsibilities, it can be incredibly hard to know which decisions are best for you, your child, and your co-parent.

In today’s blog post, we are going to discuss some of the challenges that co-parents are finding the most difficult to deal with amongst the pandemic. Read on to learn more, and if you are in need of legal advice for your child custody situation, reach out to the Sacramento law team at AF Law.

Concerns About Exposure To COVID

One of the top challenges that has arisen during the pandemic concerning shared custody is ensuring that the child does not become exposed to COVID while living with either parent. Concerns have arisen specifically for parents who have jobs in the healthcare industry and are more at-risk of being exposed to the virus. Should these parents take a step back to protect their child? And from the other perspective, should the parent who doesn’t have the high-risk job be expected to rearrange their schedule to care for their child full time? This can be an incredibly difficult decision to make, and what works for one family may not work for another. Each family will need to explore their unique circumstances and find a solution that works best for them and their child.

The Ability To Attend School Remotely

With the pandemic comes the need for children to have the ability to attend school remotely. While recently many schools have reopened and we hope most will be open for in-student learning this coming school year, not all parents may be comfortable with sending their child to school yet. If this is the case with your family, it’s important to consider which home the child will attend school from. Are both homes equally suited? Does one home have a designated work and study space? Does one parent work from home? These are all questions that should be considered when deciding which home the child will conduct their remote learning in, and as a co-parent, it can be a difficult decision to make.

High-Risk Family Members

Another challenge that has arisen during the pandemic is how to minimize a high-risk family member’s exposure to COVID, while still maintaining a shared parenting agreement. If for instance, one home has an older grandparent living with them or one parent has a medical condition or disease that makes them high-risk for contracting and having serious complications from COVID, how do you handle a co-parenting situation? Should the child remain in one home until the risk has been minimized and the nation has reached the 70% vaccinated mark? Each family’s situation is different and that can make it difficult for parents to act in the best interest of the child as well as the others in the household.

The Child’s Emotional Wellbeing

With all of the new challenges brought about by the pandemic, a main concern of parents is how their co-parenting agreement, or the changes that they have had to make to that agreement in the interest of physical safety, is emotionally affecting their child. In some co-parenting situations, one parent may put an emphasis on mental health while the other may not fully understand its importance. This has created conflicts and challenges in and of itself beyond the already complex situation of living amongst a pandemic. Decisions that can directly affect a child’s health, mental or physical, can become emotionally charged very quickly leading to disagreements between co-parents who both think that they have their child’s best interest in mind.

Are You Experiencing Child Custody Challenges?

If you are one of the many parents who have shared custody of your child, you are probably fully aware of how the pandemic has turned many co-parenting agreements on their heads. While some co-parents are capable of working together to overcome these challenges, in other situations, it may require the help of someone with extensive knowledge of child custody laws to come to an agreement. If this is the case with your child custody situation, AF Law can help. Reach out to our Sacramento law team today for assistance in overcoming the child custody challenges caused by the pandemic.

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