If you are currently sharing custody of your children with an ex-spouse, things can get complicated during the summer. Within the school year, the children are tied down by school attendance, and they normally stick to a very strict schedule.
If you have the children from Monday through Thursday, and your spouse keeps them from Friday through Sunday, then this is a strict schedule and a policy that is probably kept well. Yet during the summertime, the children are no longer restricted by their schedule. This can make it difficult as the children want to spend time with friends or parents want to take the children on vacation.
As a co-parent, you have certain rights to time with your children. There are also times that you need to honor your ex-spouse's right to the children and relinquish your time with them when it has become time to transfer the kids over. Still, it is important to make sure that these custody issues are fair. You should never have to give up your right to time with the children simply because the other parent was selfish or insisted on having more time.
Also, you will want to sit down with your ex and talk through any vacations or extended amounts of time with the children that may be permitted in the summer. For example, if you have to take a business trip for two weeks, and leave the children with your ex during this time, then maybe you will be able to make up that week later on when you want to take the children on vacation. Also, if the children go to camp during your custody time, you may be able to get this time made up in the future. Make sure to get a Jacksonville divorce attorney on your side promptly if you want assistance in your case!