For families up and down the country, Christmas is a time to spend with loved ones and enjoy quality time together. However, many families must overcome challenges this Christmas because they may have recently separated.
You might not be looking forward to Christmas at this moment in time, that’s because your finding it difficult to make contact arrangements.
This is where we can help; as a highly experienced family law practice, we have strategies and methods that we can suggest for you to implement, this is so that you and your whole family can still enjoy the Christmas festivities.
We hope that these words of advice help you better plan your Christmas and the holiday period. We also want you to rest assured that regardless of where you are in the United Kingdom, we can work with you remotely to help you resolve any family dispute you may be experiencing.
Keep calm and carry on
It's a phrase attached to many coffee cups in the workplace. However, this commonly used expression here in Great Britain is something to remember when making contact arrangements and contacting your former partner.
It's all too easy to say lose your temper or do say something you may regret later, if your partner makes it difficult for you to gain contact this Christmas.
You must appreciate that most people now communicate through social media messaging services or perhaps via WhatsApp. It is all too simple to fly off the handle, so to speak, and send a message that may only serve to cause more hostility.
We would therefore highly recommend leaving breaks before replying to a message; don't write with a knee-jerk reaction and later regret it. Instead, methodically think about what you want to say, perhaps keeping the messages shorter. Before you press that send button, we would recommend going for a walk and contemplate what you will say before it's sent.
Don't leave making arrangements to the last moment
It's often commonplace for either party to put a planning their contact arrangements on the back burner until the last moment.
Many separated families know that contact arrangements, especially in the first year of being separated as a family unit, will present challenges in terms of agreeing on contact arrangements.
Therefore, sometimes, neither party will want to instigate a conversation about what they want to happen during the Christmas festivities, regarding arranging contact arrangements. Sometimes communication is left until the very last moment.
However, our best advice is to plan early, not to bury yourself in work, and then try to make the contact arrangements just before Christmas. Start now and start amicably negotiating over how you would like the contact arrangements to work.
It's a marathon, not a sprint.
You may be solely focused on making contact arrangements for this Christmas 2024.
However, we would encourage you to take a longer-term view as well. Why not suggest to your former partner that they can have the children on Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year, but would you like to alternate and have contact next year on those days?
Don't be unreasonable; think about travelling times
During the buildup to Christmas, the roads can get particularly clogged up and heavily congested, and tempers fray as people go out and do last-minute Christmas shopping.
If collecting your children is a particularly long journey, you have to think about getting there in traffic.
So, communicate with this partner. Say that you are suggesting this particular date because you know the roads will be less congested later on. Then please allow me a window of time to collect the children because there are likely to be delays on the roads or train.
This again shows that you are carefully planning the contact arrangements and mitigating the risk of your partner saying that you are late on the day.
Keep it positive
Think about the whole family, keep everything positive, and remember that you've probably worked hard throughout the year, so you deserve time off, too.
Therefore, you don't want the Christmas period to be tarnished by what could be considered petty arguments and disagreements later on.
Keep every aspect of the Christmas period positive. For example, don't try to outdo your former partner by buying more expensive presents than they can afford to give.
Why not even try dividing the Christmas present buying between the two parents? For example, one parent could buy the game console, and the other parents could purchase the games for that particular console.
This shows the level of planning and that you will still want to work with your former partner in the best interests of the family as a whole.
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, communication will break down.
You may have been as amicable as possible with your former partner throughout. Regardless of that fact, you might now be in a situation where you have been blocked a messaging service, such as WhatsApp, your emails are now getting ignored.
You now feel incredibly frustrated because you don't know how contact arrangements will work over Christmas holidays.
This is where we can step in with friendly, expert advice to help you at every stage. You are not alone.
You don't need to be based in Cardiff, where our family law practice is based; that’s because we can liaise and work closely with you regardless of your location within the
United Kingdom.
One parent might even live abroad; we can still advise you via videoconferencing from the United Kingdom.
Do contact our expert family lawyers today for further help and advice.
