Child Arrangements and Christmas: Help!

One of the most common concerns for separated parents centres around how to share time around special occasions, such as birthdays, and holidays, but quite often the biggest panic comes around Christmas time.

Christmas is that one rare time of year when the entire country (barring a few individuals such as key workers/shift workers) have the same few days off, and it is a rush and a tussle to make sure everyone gets to see everyone in the family, exchange gifts, eat, drink and be merry.

But this can get complicated when one family separates into two, and there are then two primary households, as well as two sets of extended family aching to celebrate with the little ones in the family. 

If you are not amicable with your ex partner, this becomes ever more difficult. However, here are our top tips for how to try and resolve the issue below, and if these don’t work… we are here to help, just get in touch:-

• Are either of you religious, with Christmas/Winter Solstice forming a core part of your faith calendar? If so, perhaps it makes sense for that parent to spend time with your child/ren over the days considered holy/sacred.
• Are either of you religious, but celebrate Christmas in January such as Russian Orthodox? If so, perhaps that creates an easy solution, with one parent enjoying the days in January and the other, the celebration days in December.
• If neither of you are religious, and the days are just family days, consider whether there are any of those three core celebration days (Christmas Eve, Day or Boxing Day) that traditionally you and your extended family prefer. If so, that may present an easy solution to how the days should be shared.

Christmas can present all sorts of financial challenges for us all, and so naturally, if you can avoid Court/Solicitors around this time of year then all the better. However, if the issue is simply too thorny to resolve yourselves, we are always here to try and help you navigate through the issue, to a solution that suits everyone. Just call us on 01926 354704 or email: family@moore-tibbits.co.uk.