The holidays and school breaks are critical times to ensure that you have an excellent custody schedule in place. Not only do you need to list major holidays in the schedule, but you also consider the days that children are off school or the daily routine is different than normal (such as summer break).
As with other custody details, it’s essential to focus on the children’s best interests. They need to have bonding time and quality memories with both parents, and the holidays are an important opportunity for these experiences.
So, the goal is to design a holiday schedule that allows the children to spend time with their parents throughout the year. You might decide to alternate holidays or have some holidays where the children split time between both parents’ homes.
Major Holidays to Include in a Custody Schedule
Decide which holidays are important to you, then include these days in your custody schedule. Here is a list of some of the holidays you might want to consider while designing a custody plan.
- Religious Holidays: Such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Easter, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, and Passover.
- Traditional Gathering Holidays: Such as Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, etc.
- Federal and State Holidays: Any holidays that create long weekends for the kids, such as Memorial Day, Presidents Day, MLK Day, Labor Day, and Veteran’s Day. Don’t forget Independence Day, which will fall in the middle of the summer schedule.
- Summer Schedule: Come up with a plan for when the kids are not in school: summer break, winter break, thanksgiving week, and spring break. Reach out to the school to get a calendar showing all of these annual breaks.
Not only do you need to decide where the children will be on the holidays, but it is also important to plan details in the custody schedule about who will be transporting the kids. You’ll also want to know where the exchange will happen, and any other logistics that need to be in place for a successful process.
Finalizing a Custody Agreement That Works for All Parties
The bottom line is that it’s important to devise a schedule that works for the kids and parents. But the kid’s best interests always take priority!
It’s not enough to verbally agree that parents will share custody time with the kids. These details need to be outlined in detail by mutual agreement. Without this documentation, it’s not enforceable.
If you need help with this process, reach out to our team at Grey Legal Group. We offer family-focused legal services, including support with child custody, financial agreements, and more.
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