Work Travel Can Interfere with Parenting Time

 Posted on March 13, 2019 in Child Custody

A parent’s work commitments can be an important factor when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities. To have a majority of the parenting time, you must show that you are consistently available to care for your children as a single parent. Work travel can affect your availability if it consistently requires you to be out of town. A parent with a heavy travel schedule may have difficulty receiving the share of parental responsibilities that he or she wants during a divorce.

Children’s Best Interest

Before arguing for a majority of the parental responsibilities, you should honestly assess whether you can fulfill that responsibility with your work travel requirements. The primary parent after a divorce is typically the one who is most available to care for the children. It may be necessary for your co-parent to have a majority of the parenting time if your work requires you to frequently stay overnight in another city. Parental responsibilities also include making decisions about how you care for your children. Ideally, your co-parent will consult you on major decisions regarding your children’s health and education. However, a court may give greater decision-making power to the parent who is more often with the children and able to act on those decisions.

Protecting Your Parental Rights

Traveling for work does not need to greatly diminish your parental responsibilities. Your travel schedule may include:

• Being out of town for only a few days each month;
• Traveling for one week and staying home the next week; or
• Heavy travel during certain months of the year.

If you know your travel schedule, you can build your parenting schedule to give you more time with your children when you are not traveling. If your travel schedule is less predictable, you can talk to your co-parent about being flexible with your parenting schedule to accommodate your availability. Your best solution may be to find a job that does not require you to travel as much, after which you could modify your parenting schedule to be more equitable.

Contact a St. Charles Divorce Lawyer

A divorce court will expect you to create a parenting plan that best serves the needs of your children, which sometimes means giving a majority of the parental responsibilities to your co-parent. However, it is also in your children’s best interest to see you consistently, even if your work requires you to travel. A Kane County divorce attorney at Goostree Law Group can help you maintain your parental rights. To schedule a free consultation, call 630-584-4800.

Source: 

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=2086&ChapterID=59&SeqStart=8300000&SeqEnd=10000000