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How can you make your child custody transfers go smoothly?

On Behalf of | Jan 20, 2022 | Divorce

Child custody transfers are common when parents share custody of their children. A custody transfer happens when you swap physical custody of the kids before and after your scheduled parenting time.  Depending on the nature of your custody arrangement, you may have a custody transfer once, twice or even more times per week.

As you may suspect, custody transfers can be contentious. After all, you have some genuine reasons for no longer wanting to be in an intimate relationship with your children’s other parent. To make your custody transfers go as smoothly as possible, you may want to employ a couple of different techniques.

Prepare your children and their belongings

Shuffling children between two households can be difficult. While it is useful to have basic items at both places, having two sets of everything is not always possible. Therefore, you must send certain items with your children when they move from your house to their other parent’s home.

These may include the following:

  • Homework
  • Medication
  • Security blankets and other comfort items
  • Items that belong to either you or your former partner

As Raise magazine discusses, you should assume your children will forget essential items. Therefore, packing the night before your custody transfer ensures your kids have everything they need to spend time with their other parent. If you are having trouble tracking down an item, packing early also gives you sufficient time to locate it.

Furthermore, depending on the time of your custody transfer, you may need to feed your kids. You also should dress your children appropriately for the weather and time of day.

Communicate with your children’s co-parent

Even if you have solid plans, you may not always arrive on time for a custody transfer. If your plans change, you should notify your children’s co-parent as early as possible. Remember,  communication plays a major role in stress-free custody transfers.

Ultimately, anything you do to make each custody transfer a positive experience is likely to help you minimize conflict.