Family attorney and mediator shares county guidance and advice ahead of the holidays

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    MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OR (KPTV) — The holidays are here, but we’re also in the middle of a pandemic. As we all navigate our first holiday season with COVID-19, how should parents who share custody of their children celebrate the holidays safely?

Multnomah County has some guidance on how parents should navigate shared custody during COVID-19. In day-to-day care, they say parents must follow Oregon Health Authority guidelines like social distancing, among other measures.

“Certainly, if they are subject to a court order the courts are expecting them to act business as usual. The presiding judge over Multnomah County Steve Bushong issued a court order saying parents are expected to follow their court order,” David Bean, family attorney and mediator with Wyse Kadish LLP, said.

Bean said he realizes it’s more complicated than that, considering COVID-19 is still very much present in our communities.

As COVID-19 continues to be a polarizing topic, there are some parents who follow CDC guidelines and others who don’t. But are those parents allowed to deny the other party parenting time because of their habits?

“Typically, no,” Bean said. “County guidance said parenting time can’t be denied if one party believes the other parent’s precautions aren’t enough. Court orders do not trust parents to make the decision about whether or not the other parent gets his or her parenting time.”

So, what should a parent do if they’re concerned about their children’s safety? Bean said communication is key.

“They want parents to figure out what’s going to go best for our children and so they’re encouraging parents to communicate and cooperate around that but they do appreciate not all parents can do that on their own,” Bean said. “These days lots of mediators, I serve as a mediator, are happy to work with families over Zoom, as are co-parent coaches, so there you have someone with psychological training, so there you have that and they work with folks to reach agreements that are going to be child-centered.”

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