Vacation With Shared Custody

by Charles from Lake County, Florida

Do I need to get permission from my ex-wife to take our child on vacation if we have shared custody? Our son currently is in daycare, and she won't let me take him away from daycare for a week to travel out of state.

She will only let me take him for 3 days. We have shared custody though and we have equal rights to time even though she has him more.

Our divorce decree does not directly address gaining permission for vacation, it only states each of us needs to give 2 weeks notice. I'm giving her 6 months notice.

Answer to Florida Child Custody Question

Dear Charles,

You could take him anyway for the whole week since your court order only states that you must give her advance notice, and you have done so.

You are complying with the court order, so it would likely be difficult for a judge to find you are in contempt of court.

However, a better path might be to find out why she is so adamant that you only take him for three days.

Does she think that you won't be able to care for him well enough? Is there an event coming up that you don't know about?

I know that it can be difficult to reason with an ex, but if you both can find a way to compromise, it will be far better for your son in the long run.

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