How to Co-Parent During a Pandemic & COVID-19

If you’re co-parenting, you might already understand how difficult it can be. But now, more than ever, co-parenting’s unique challenges are reaching a turning point. With quarantines and stay-at-home orders popping up across the state, how do you decide what is best for your child during this time?

Be Open and Honest with your Children

Now, more than ever, it’s important for both you and your co-parent to be aligned and share the same message with your children. It’s important to communicate with your child the current pandemic and how it is affecting their world. Stay calm, and keep a level-head when sharing new with your child. And remember, it can be good to turn off the news from time to time. Enjoy each other’s presence while you’re together.

Stick to your Court Orders

While it can be easy to try and use the current pandemic as a reason to keep your child yourself of traveling across town to your co-parent, it is important that you stick to your court-ordered custody agreement. If you have room to negotiate with your co-parent and move some weekends around, you should do what is best for your child. The current shelter in place laws state that you are able to travel if it means leaving home to care for a family member - and this is one of those situations where you’re in the clear.

Use your Best Judgement

If you or your co-parent begins to feel ill or has tested positive for the coronavirus, it would be wise to have your child stay with their healthy parent for the time-being. Of course, as soon as you or your co-parent are recovered and feeling better, your joint custody agreement should kick in right where you left off. If your child is beginning to feel ill, or if they have tested positive for the coronavirus, check your custody documents. You most likely have agreed upon what to do in a medical situation if your child becomes ill. It’s important to follow your court orders as well as do what is best for your child.