Including Both Parents on School Forms

 Posted on November 10, 2011 in Child Custody

The return of fall signals back-to-school time for children across the country. A new school year brings a flurry of forms for parents of school-aged children to fill out, such as emergency contact information forms and permission slips for who has a right to pick a child up from school. When a child's parents are not married and share child custody, sometimes school forms cause problems down the road if one parent is not included.

It is usually beneficial to list both parents on most school forms, even if one parent does not have primary physical custody. In fact, most custody judgments require both parents to be listed on school forms. If a non-custodial parent is not listed as a person who can pick a child up from school, the non-custodial parent may not be allowed to get his or her child from school if an emergency arises or during times when he or she has parenting time with the child.

While it may merely be an oversight, the child involved is the one who really loses out, when both parents are not listed on the records as the child has less access to the other parent.

Tips for Parents

Parents can follow some simple steps to help deal with the problem of school forms:

• Contact the school directly, not the other parent, to ensure that both parents' contact information is included on school forms
• Give the other parent the benefit of the doubt and assume that being left off of the forms was a mistake and not deliberate
• Access school information online, such as school calendars and teacher websites, for information about what is going on at school
• Do not bad-mouth the other parent in front of the child - putting the child in the middle of a parenting issue only hurts the child

Sharing child custody can be difficult. Sometimes parents cannot cooperate effectively, and that makes it challenging for everyone involved. If you are having issues regarding the custody of your child, contact a lawyer who can discuss your situation with you and advise you of your options.

Source: Back to School Blues: When One Parent is Left Off the School Forms, Heather Hetchler