You and your ex have a shared parenting plan. Which means you have to make decisions together with respect to health-related issues.  But now, you want to get your minor child vaccinated for COVID-19 and your ex-spouse is not in agreement. What can you do? 
 
The answer is a thorough review of your current shared parenting plan.  The language with respect to health-related, medical issues is the key to determining what you can or cannot do. 
 
Our office recently was hired by someone who had this very same issue.  A review of her shared parenting plan led us to advise, based solely on what her specific plan stated, that she was within her rights in the plan to go ahead and vaccinate the minor child, even though the ex-spouse was not in agreement. 
 
She vaccinated the minor child. He filed a Contempt.  At the contempt hearing, the Court read aloud the language in their shared parenting plan and determined that, irrespective of his personal feelings about the vaccine, that in fact, our client was not in contempt. The other party dismissed his contempt immediately.
 
However, not all plans have the same language.  If you have questions about interpreting your shared parenting plan, please contact our firm to set up a consultation to discuss. 
 
Also, if you are currently going through a divorce with minor children, or a custody case, make sure to talk to a lawyer about the precise language being used in your plan and what that could mean for future issues.  

Sunni DiNicola is an Partner at Lardiere McNair & Stonebrook, Ltd., LPA. To read more about our firm, please visit lawyerscolumbusohio.com.

The information presented here has been prepared by Lardiere McNair for promotional and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.  This information is not intended to provide, and receipt of it does not constitute, legal advice.  Nor does the receipt of this material create an attorney/client relationship.  An attorney client relationship is not established until such time as Lardiere McNair enters in to a written engagement agreement with a specific client for a specific legal matter.