12 weeks until Christmas……. A busy time for family lawyers!

October 1, 2018 by Melinda @ Giles Wilson Solicitors

Leigh on sea comes alive at Christmas and it can feel as if every family is perfect strolling along passed our shops filled with gifts and visions of family harmony.  But as all too many of us know, Christmas can be a stressful and sad time particularly for those that have lost loved ones or who are estranged from family members, or are unable to see their own children due to difficulty with shared parenting arrangements.

It is so important to take early advice if you want to ensure that your children are relaxed and able to share this magical time without the stress of their parents not having agreed how the Christmas period will be spent.  And this can require the co-operation of grandparents and other relatives who maybe better placed to provide support and act as mediators where emotions are running high.

Far better to get these difficult conversations and negotiations out of the way early on so that everyone knows where they are and plans can be made. Maybe it is your thing to spend the Leigh lights evening in the Broadway with your children, or perhaps this is an event that you would gladly pass up in return for one of the many Chris Dingle services taking place in Leigh or Chalkwell over the season. Maybe a Christmas shopping day in the Broadway or attending the nativity at West Leigh, Leigh Primary, Chalkwell or St Michael’s school is your primary objective.  Our family lawyers are used to advising and negotiating these arrangements – it is all about starting the conversation, and then agreeing the terms so that everyone, particularly your children know where they stand.

Other family members can cause pressure by arranging large family parties and you would wish your children to join in with their cousins, grandparents and wider family members.  But it is equally unfair to spring such arrangements on a separated parent not understanding that these type of plans need to be made well in advance to ensure that they do not clash with the “other” family’s plans.  

October may seem early to start talking about Christmas but our advice is that the earlier the advice is sought the better. In the unlikely event that the negotiations are not simply resolved there may still be time to take more drastic steps.  At the centre of everyone’s Christmas season there are the children and it is always in their best interests that the adults around them are not arguing but instead enjoying being with them.

I make no apologies this time for being a bit of a Bah Humbug! May I be the first to wish you all a Happy Christmas!