Separated parents and negotiating Father's Day arrangements

Many separated families spend time discussing and resolving the best arrangements for their children to move between their homes, and ‘special days’ can often be the hardest. 

For Father’s Day, we will generally advise our clients to be fair and to ask them ‘who is the day special for?’ The answer is the child and putting aside parental conflict to act in their best interests must be everyone’s common goal.  

Quite often it is possible to agree or vary the usual arrangements so that your child can spend Father’s Day with dad and Mothering Sunday with mum. Even if it is a few hours, it’s quality time that counts. 

It is important to plan ahead, think of other days and holidays that also need to be resolved and be ready to compromise. Think outside of the box: can technology be used; can special plans be made for another day if time on the specific day is not possible? 

If your ex-partner is the negotiating type, is there something important to the other parent which you could concede?  

If you can’t make arrangements for your children to see the other parent, can you send a card, a gift or a video message from the child to mark the day? 

If you are not able to agree arrangements for your children, whether on special days or generally, then a family lawyer can help to explain the many options available.