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As your child grows up, they may develop new interests and hobbies, often through the help of extracurricular activities. Whether your child enjoys the school band or orchestra, competes athletically on school or club sports teams, or joins all of the clubs they can, their extracurricular activities may affect how your current time-sharing agreement can be used. Our modifications attorneys share what you should do if your child’s extracurricular activities constitute a substantial change in schedule.
Extracurricular Activities
Your child may find they have interests, such as playing sports, learning musical instruments, or other activities that may take up some of their free time. As a student-athlete, your child may need to attend practices or weight training before or after the school day, as well as on weekends. This also may be true if they are pursuing a musical instrument and taking lessons or in a band or orchestra, as they will need to take time to practice their craft.
Not every student may be an athlete or musician. Your child may also pursue activities, such as volunteering with their National Honor Society or other volunteer organizations or joining clubs such as the school yearbook or newspaper.
Sometimes, your child’s extracurricular activities may require traveling for a tournament, competition, or conference. If this is the case, travel will fall during one parent’s planned time with the child, which may need to be rescheduled or adjusted if the parent cannot travel with the child for work-related or other important reasons. You may be able to trade time with your child’s other parent if you have a reasonable or flexible schedule; however, if you are unable to come to an agreement regarding your child’s travel or are not flexible with your time-sharing schedule, a custody modification may be necessary for the best interests of your child.
Will I Need to Request a Modification?
When your child begins to join extracurricular activities, their day-to-day schedule may change. If this change is significant enough to where their parent needs assistance dropping them off or picking them up due to their work schedule or the child is planned to travel and it can affect the overall time-sharing agreement, this may hint at needing a child custody modification so the time-sharing agreement can reflect the child’s new schedule. If the child is old enough to drive and has a driver’s license, the ability to drive themselves may help their parents as they plan to pursue new interests and hobbies; however if the child is unable to drive themselves, they will need a parent to drive them or another mode of transportation.
If you feel that your child’s new change in schedule is not temporary and a substantial change to where you need to request a modification, our modification attorneys can help you review your time-sharing agreement and prepare your modification request. Your modification attorney can also help you determine if a modification is necessary for your specific case or if this change would be easily resolved through a review of the current custody and time-sharing agreement.
Montgomery Modification Attorneys
At Testa & Pagnanelli, LLC, your family comes first. We understand that your children may develop new interests, and your time-sharing schedule may need an adjustment. Our team can help you review your current agreement and plan for your family’s next steps as you pursue a modification.
Is there a substantial change in your child’s schedule that is affecting your time-sharing agreement? Schedule a free consultation with our modifications attorneys today to discuss how we can help your family develop a solution that works best for everyone. Call us today at (610) 365-4733.