How COVID-19 school closures affect custody and support

I live about two blocks from a high school. In pre-Coronavirus times, I would walk my dogs each morning by the front of the school and watch as bleary eyed teenagers dragged themselves through the doors. But now when I walk by, the building is eerily and sadly silent, like they locked the doors assuming they’d be back the next day. I don’t think they knew that they wouldn’t be back for weeks because of the COVID-19 school closures.

Well, it looks like those weeks are going to turn into next fall. Last week, the Governor of Pennsylvania ordered that all schools will remain closed at least until the end of the school year, and perhaps even longer. Are there COVID-19 school closures where you live? Will the schools reopen before the normal end of the year? What about next year? Will there be COVID-19 school closures then too?

I started thinking about COVID-19 school closures and how they would affect you and your families on one of those early morning walks. I think that these closings are going to bring up a lot of issues for divorced parents. Here are some of the things I started thinking about when I think of COVID-19 school closures:

• What will co-parents do if they have to go back to work but school is closed for the rest of the year? Will they have to rearrange their work and custody schedule because of these COVID-19 school closures?
• If both parents have to work, who will monitor homeschooling or stay with the children during the day if they are too young to stay home alone?
• What are parents going to do if camps and other daycare providers are not open this summer?
• What if parents have to hire childcare because they have to work while their kids are at home because of the COVID-19 school closures? Who will pay for that? Will child support have to be modified? Can it be if the courts are closed?

Be honest. Have you started thinking about these custody and support issues? Don’t worry if you haven’t. There’s a lot going on right now! I got you! In this article I’ll give you some easy suggestions for dealing with these COVID-19 school closure issues.

How will you rearrange your custody schedule because of COVID-19 school closures?

In my previous article, I gave some suggestions about how to rearrange your custody schedule during the early stages of the Coronavirus. While those tips are great for when both parents (or at least one parent) is working from home, what are you and your co-parent going do if you are both ordered back to work but the schools and daycares remain closed because of the Coronavirus? What if your children are too young to stay home alone? Who will be responsible for homeschooling them?

It is really important that you communicate with your co-parent about this now, before it becomes an issue. Remember, most courthouses are operating on an emergency basis only. So, if you don’t have a plan or, wait to long to have your attorney address it with the other side, you could be putting you, your co-parent, and your children in a very difficult situation.

Need some ideas? Here are my suggestions for some temporary alternate arrangements should this situation arise for your family:

• Talk to your employer to see if you can work from home instead of coming back to the office, at least a few days a week;
• Hire a college student or out of work teacher to care for and help homeschool the children;
• See if a friend or relative could help, even on a part-time basis;
• Rearrange your custody schedule such that you and your co-parent share responsibility for caring for and homeschooling the children during the work day;
• Consider moving back in with your co-parent to share the responsibility; and/or
• Research alternate daycare options that are available for children of working parents. Some employers (such as hospitals and large companies) are offering childcare to help employees return to/ or stay working during COVID-19 school closures. But hurry, spots for these daycares will close up fast!

Do you and your co-parent have a plan if summer camps are likewise closed because of COVID-19?

We don’t know how long the COVID-19 outbreak is going to last. Like with the COVID1-9 school closures, there is a significant possibility that summer camps will also be closed this year. Do your children regularly attend summer camp? Do you use camp as childcare while you are at work during the summer months?

If summer camp is your regular summer child care provider, you and your co-parent should start making contingencies plans in the event that camps are not open this year. Your children are already worried and sad because of the COVID-19 school closures. Don’t make them worry about summer camp closures too. Want to know how you can prevent this?

Just as with all communications during COVID-19, have an early and open dialogue with your coparent, either in person or through a parenting app. Starting now before it is an issue will lessen the stress for both you and your children and likely result in a plan that will work for everyone. Also, by addressing this issue now, it is possible you can pivot your children to other programs that will be open this summer before those open spots are filled by other families.

How will you pay for the extra childcare costs required because of the COVID-19 school closures?

So you and your co-parent have discussed (nicely) the childcare options needed because of the COVID-19 school closures. What if your chosen option results in having to pay a childcare provider? Who should pay?

Child care is generally part of a support order. But, what if you don’t regularly need child care and, as such, it isn’t included in your current child support award? Or what if this is an additional cost to what you already spend? How should you handle it?

Don’t worry, I’ve got answers. Here are some possibilities for how to deal with this additional childcare expense resulting from COVID-19 school closures:

• If you co-parent will not pay for the extra expenses, you can always file something with your child support office requesting that your support award be increased (or decreased if you are the payor) because of this additional cost.
• If your child support office is not addressing modifications right now, or, if you and your co-parent wish to address this outside of the court system to save money, you can agree to an alternate payment arrangement that doesn’t go through the child support office such as simply splitting the cost 50/50 or by some other percentages.
• You and your co-parent can agree that you will pay for the childcare needed on your custodial days and he/she will pay for the additional childcare costs expended on their days.
• If you and your co-parent are not yet divorced, perhaps you can use a joint savings account or other marital account to pay for this expense. You can then consider that payment in your property distribution.

So what are my major tips for dealing with COVID-19 school closures?

At this time, none of us know how long our stay at home orders will last and how these orders may affect COVID-19 school closures for this year and beyond. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t be prepared. Keep in mind these tips for dealing with COVID-19 school closures:

• Talk to your co-parent and make a plan for what your custodial arrangement will look like if you and/or your co-parent have to go back to work while school is closed;
• Start planning for the possibility of what your children will do if summer camp is also closed;
• Make sure all communications with your co-parent are productive and civil. If you can’t speak to them in person, use a co-parenting app;
• If your plans result in an additional childcare cost not considered in your child support order, speak to your co-parent about how you and he/she are going to share in the cost. If you can’t agree, file something with the court.

As always, please continue to stay safe, stay sane, and most importantly, keep washing your hands!!!

What’s next on the Divorce Lawyer Life?

Getting divorced is tough on a good day. COVID-19 divorce stress is extra tough. Want to know how to best handle your COVID-19 divorce stress? Get my tips next week.

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