Professional athletes who have families often find that being traded and having to move is one of the more difficult aspects of their lifestyle and profession. While it’s true that it’s hard to make long-distance moves when you have a family in tow, it’s even more challenging to make that move if you’re divorced and have to think about a child custody situation.
Just because you’re a professional athlete doesn’t mean that you don’t have the right to see your children. You can assert your right to be an active parent, even if you have to do that from far away. There are several things that you need to consider if you’re facing this situation:
- Your child’s age: The age of your children will play a role in how the parenting time schedule is set up. Younger children might not be able to be away from their primary caregiver for long, so this could mean that they have to make shorter, but more frequent trips.
- Your child’s educational needs: If your child isn’t in school yet, a custody plan might be easier to work out. Older children might be able to handle longer visits but they might not be as frequent if they’re in school.
- Your ability to use virtual visitation: Virtual visitation agreements can help a long-distance parent keep in contact with the kids while they’re apart, but the rules need to be carefully established to avoid conflicts with the other parent.
Setting up the parenting time schedule can be challenging at first. It’s imperative that you get this done as quickly as possible so that the child knows when they get to see each parent. In an ideal situation, you and the other parent will be able to work together to tweak the plan as needed. If this isn’t possible, going to court might be in order.