[color=#FF0000]INFO:[/color] My husband and I have grown apart and have been co-parenting over the past few years. Recently he asked for a separation to see if any romantic feelings will return in our time apart. It was decided that I would be the one to move out and find an apartment. [color=#FF0000]PROBLEM: [/color]While attending marriage counseling in the past, we were told to try to keep the routines of our two kids as normal as possible. Therefore, his plan is to keep the house and have the kids (both under 10) stay there in their rooms. He would get them to school. I would pick them up. My concern is that the time spent between after-school pick-up and bedtime is a little under 3hrs. Then they would return to him for the night. I don’t like this arrangement, but if I agree to this (for the sake of the kids’ routine) am I in jeopardy of losing custody of them if we decide to divorce after the year apart?
It is common to want to try to keep things as stable as possible for the children, and if you believe that there is a good chance of reconciling, you may be agreeable to this scenario, but if you end up in court for a child custody hearing, you will need to prove to the court that you are able to show that changing the schedule is in the children’s best interests. I would advise you to put a custody schedule in place that you would be happy with long term in the event that the separation becomes permanent.