Reply to Custody agreement - clauses regarding school attendance

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm the odd one out. No way to vacation in lieu of school. And a judge WILL back you up, and may take away visitation if it continues. There is case law of parents (out of state) having to give up summer visitation bc the child was required to be in summer school. School is important, even when it's elementary school.

Also, finding out from your child's school that the child is not in attendance?? NOT ok. Document, document, document. (I'm a single parent in DC, had 2 custody battles in NYC, one was when I needed to move to DC)[/quote]

A judge is not going to take away visitation for a couple of missed school days a semester, especially if it doesn't impact grades.

The situation OP describes is far different from the summer school case you describe above.  Presumably a kid is only in summer school because they are not doing well in school already.

In fact, if that's your only beef -- 2-3 days of missed school a semester in ES, a judge is going to be pretty irritated to see you before him wasting the court's valuable time asking for a custody change for solely that reason.  The judge is also not going to care if your only beef is that the school is calling you about missed time, rather than the other parent contacting you.  Yes, your ex is an ass for not telling you this directly, but, unfortunately, the court sees a lot of parents who are asses, but their behavior doesn't rise to the level of justifying a parenting change.

Now, it's different if pulling the kid out of school resulted in losing the student's seat or a serious academic deficiency, for that you may want to go back to court.  That is why you have to document as it's happening -- to be prepared for that eventuality.  [/quote]

They may not the first time it happens, but if a parent makes a habit of allowing a child to miss school, or taking family vacations during the school year, custody can absolutely change from 50/50 to every other weekend. School is more important than visitation (says child custody law).

Also, the OP is talking about the other parent taking the child to Mexico in October. OP - do not give your permission. It will be required for them to enter Mexico. When traveling internationally, TSA agents or Customs agents should ask your child, "Who are you traveling with?" - Teach your child to say "My Stepmom and my dad" (putting stepmom first will alert the TSA and/or customs to check for permission which is required).

OP - does your kid have a passport? Make sure its in your possession if they do. [/quote]

OP here. She has a passport. I have the passport. I told him that I would not consent for him to take her out of the country during school time. He isn't thrilled about it, but is planning to go during Thanksgiving instead, which I consented to. We have a notarized letter specific to that trip. Thank you for the tip about mentioning a stepparent. That said, she has her dad's last name, not mine, and while I've traveled internationally with her several times (without him), no one has ever asked me for the letter or questioned whether I should be taking her abroad, so I don't think this is something that is regularly enforced.[/quote]

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