Tips for Coordinating Child Visitation during Holidays

It’s hard for any parent to be without their children for any length of time, regardless of child custody arrangements, particularly during the holidays.

There are three main things that you can do to make child visitation during holidays easier.

• Keep your spirits high during holidays when your kids are visiting their other parent by spending time with friends, extended family, or your church family
• Maintain open communication with your ex about child visitation
• Remain flexible

Sample Visitation Holiday Schedule

There are numerous ways a family can decide to handle visitation during the holidays. The parents’ and the children’s programs will need to be taken into consideration, as do the kids’ ages and transportation costs.

Here is a sample holiday visitation schedule that might work for some families.

• Mom (even-numbered years): New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Christmas Eve
• Dad (even-numbered years): Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

 

In the odd-numbered years, they switch.

Tips for Child Visitation Holiday Schedules

• Have a brainstorm session and make a blueprint. Create a list of all the holidays including any important religious holidays that are meaningful to you, and next to each one write which home the children will be in for even number years, and which for odd.

• Have an attorney assist you with, and draft, the schedule, ensure there are no obvious kinks or gaps, and then formalize it by getting it signed with the court. By including a child custody lawyer, you can guarantee that you get full access to your kids in a fair manner.

• Plan the kids with mom on Mother’s Day and with dad on Father’s Day.

• Have your lawyer stipulate in your custody agreement who is to pay for transportation costs during the holidays if the parents live far apart. You can also specify pick-up and drop-off times/dates/locations if you and your ex so choose.

• Include the kids’ birthdays, so each parent can mark this special day.

• Take the kids’ schools schedules and activities into consideration when planning around holidays. Interests might change on a yearly basis; this is where being flexible comes into play.

• Having a split arrangement with the children is also a possibility for some families, particularly when there is sibling rivalry issues or a large age gap between siblings. For example, one year the mom has Johnny for Christmas and dad has Jenny, and the next year they switch.

The Texas Divorce Lawyer Can Craft Your Holiday Visitation Schedule

The Texas Divorce Lawyer has been helping families with divorce issues such as custody and visitation for over 20 years. Contact the office in Texas today for help creating a holiday schedule for your family, or for any of your divorce needs, 214-290-8001.