Holiday Visitation Planning Suggestions

Holiday Visitation Planning Suggestions

We’ll go over the basics of a visiting order, holidays to keep in mind when negotiating the schedule, and common techniques for dividing the holidays in this blog. This may be considered the most difficult element in drawing a visitation plan.

The Fundamentals of Visitation Orders

To avoid conflicts and confusion, it is recommended that parents make highly comprehensive visitation plans. As a result, visitation schedules should include specific dates and times when the children will be with each parent, particularly during vacations, holidays, and special occasions (birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day).

Remember that in most custody situations, parents make their own visitation arrangements without the need for a court ruling. If you and your partner reach an agreement, the provisions of the agreement become legally binding and enforceable. However, if one of you does not adhere to the agreement, you can submit it to a court, which will either send you to mediation or rule on the custody and visitation schedule

A judge may appoint a child custody evaluator to conduct a custody evaluation and make a parenting plan recommendation in some instances. It’s worth noting that the evaluation will almost certainly be paid for by the parent.

Parents will have to go back to court if they wish to revise or modify the order. A new custody and visitation arrangement will be approved by the judge if both parents agree. Keep in mind that changing a custody order is a complicated process. Keep in mind that changing a custody arrangement is not easy, and the parent(s) will need to show the judge that there has been a significant change in circumstances that affects the child’s best interests. Before going to court, both parents will almost certainly have to meet with a mediator to explain the reasons for the changes.

Schedules for Holiday Visits

Keep the following holidays in mind when you design your first or amended visitation schedule:

• The first day of the year (Jan. 1st)
• In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. (3rd Monday of Jan.)
• Today is Presidents’ Day (3rd Monday of Feb.)
• Easter
• Break in the Spring (school schedule)
• Mother’s Day (2nd Sunday of May)
• Remembrance Day (last Monday of May)
• Father’s Day (2nd Sunday of June)
• July 4th
• Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
• Halloween (Oct 31st)
• November 11th is Veterans Day (Nov 11th)
• Happy Thanksgiving! (4^th Thursday of Nov.)
• The night before Christmas (Dec. 24th)
• New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31st)
• The day after Christmas (Dec. 25th)
• Winter Vacation (school schedule)
• The birthday of the kid

Religious holidays, state holidays, days off from school (e.g. Furlough Days), each parent’s birthday, and other significant occasions may also be noted by some parents. Holidays take precedence over regular visitation days, so if one parent receives parenting time on Mondays but one of those Mondays is the other parent’s birthday, the child will spend the day with the other parent.

Option for Scheduling

Separated parents who reside across the country from each other must develop a custody arrangement that suits both of their needs while also considering the children’s well-being during long absences like Spring Break and Christmas Break. Travel is costly, and children may experience worry and unhappiness if they are transported from parent to parent across the country.

A holiday rotation, in which parents alternate holidays every other year, is one way to arrange around holidays. Parents, for example, can allocate holidays to each other in even years and then exchange them in odd years (e.g. the father can get custody for Christmas in even years and the mother on odd years). The most frequent way to divide three-day weekends is to alternate weekends.

• Thanksgiving Day is for one parent, while the weekend is for the other.
• One parent celebrates Christmas Day, while the other celebrates Christmas Eve.
• One parent celebrates Christmas, while the other celebrates New Year’s.

In any case, parents can schedule another day to spend a holiday with their child. For example, one parent can spend Christmas Eve with the child and the other parent can spend Christmas Day with the child.

Some visitation patterns designate set holidays, in which each parent spends the same holidays with the child each year. This may work if the parents have various holidays that they value.

Parents can split the time on the day of the child’s birthday by:

• Organize a short visit for the parent who does not have the child on the birthday,
• Schedule birthday time for both parents, or
• Switch birthdays every year.

Questions? Spodek Law Group is available to assist you.

If you have any issues about altering or clarifying a custody order addressing holidays, you should obtain legal advice as soon as possible. Visitation schedules can be complicated, and they’re difficult to adjust once they’ve been established. Our attorneys at Spodek Law Group can offer you with the legal assistance you require during your visitation negotiations; contact us today for more information.

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