UPDATE: How Travel Affects Your Custody Arrangement
On November 28, 2020, the Department of Public Health in Santa Clara County made the decision to issue a 14-day quarantine requirement for all persons entering Santa Clara County from travel of more than 150 miles away. The order went into effect on November 30, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. and will remain in effect until at least December 21, 2020 at 5:00 a.m., unless the order is extended. Although, the Department of Public Health Directive did not specifically state whether children returning from a parent’s home that is 150 miles or more from the parent living in Santa Clara County are exempted from this requirement, the most recent update from the Department of Public Health, issued on December 2, 2020, provides that “Persons who are otherwise required to quarantine pursuant to this Directive may leave their household or place of quarantine to the extent necessary to comply with a court order or make an appearance in a court of law or administrative proceeding.” What this means is that if you and your child’s other parent live 150 miles or more away from one another and one of you lives outside of Santa Clara County, you are permitted to continue following the schedule set by your child custody and visitation order.
For example, let’s say you live in Santa Clara County but your child’s other parent lives in the city of Fresno, which is 150 miles from Santa Clara County. When your child returns to your home in Santa Clara County from their other parent’s home in Fresno, they will be required to quarantine for 14 days. If you have joint physical custody and your timeshare schedule, as set by your child custody and visitation order, gives you physical custody from Saturday at 8:00 PM to Wednesday drop-off at school, and gives your child’s other parent physical custody of your child from Wednesday pick-up from school till 8:00 PM Saturday night, then in order to comply with your child custody order your child would have to leave their place of quarantine before the 14 days are up. Under the most recent update from the Department of Public Health, this is completely permitted.
However, while your child is at your home in Santa Clara County, they will be required to stay at home at all times with very few exceptions. If you need to take your child to the doctor, hospital, or any other Healthcare Facility, the Public Health Directive allows your child to temporarily leave their place of quarantine. Of course, if your child starts to show symptoms at any time, get them tested immediately and if your child comes up positive for Covid-19, do your best to work with the other parent to agree to a temporary schedule change that accommodates the 14-day quarantine requirement.
If you find yourself unable to agree with your child’s other parent, it is in your best interest to immediately contact trusted legal counsel for child custody matters from our office at 408-214-6366 or info@argyrismah.com to set up an initial free consultation.
