Making Your Holiday Visitation Schedule

Florida’s public policy is that minor children should have frequent and continuing contact with both parents after they separate or divorce, and that parents should share in the same rights, responsibilities, and joys of child-rearing unless it is found not to be in the child’s best interests.

To this end, parents are encouraged to work together to create a parenting plan that may include specific provisions regarding the holidays. Continue reading to get tips on creating a holiday parenting plan and how an Orlando child custody lawyer can protect your rights.

What Is a Holiday Visitation Schedule?

Florida courts require parenting plans in all cases involving time-sharing with minor children, even when time-sharing is not in dispute. Once the court approves the plan, the parents must adhere to its terms, which often include specific schedules outlining when each parent has time with the child.

The holiday visitation schedule is specific to holidays and special occasions. It may deviate from the general parenting plan. For example, if the parents take turns having the child one week each, this may not be the case during a holiday. Instead, the parents may divide the time differently, or one parent may have the child the entire time.

The holiday schedule helps show where the child will spend holidays and special occasions.

Common Holiday Visitation Schedules

Holiday visitation plans can take different forms, such as:

  • Alternating holidays every other year: One year, Parent A may have the child for Thanksgiving, while Parent B has the child for Christmas. Next year, Parent B would have the child for Thanksgiving, and Parent A would have the child for Christmas.
  • Dividing the holiday: With this arrangement, the child spends half of the time with each parent. For example, the child may spend the first week of Christmas vacation with Parent A and the second week with Parent B.
  • Celebrating holidays twice: Each parent could celebrate the holiday with the child at different times, such as one parent having the child the weekend before Thanksgiving, while the other parent gets the weekend after.
  • Assigning fixed holidays: If the parents have certain holidays that hold special meaning for them, they may agree to give each other the important dates, such as Mother’s Day always with the mom and Father’s Day always with the dad.

The parents could also agree on a hybrid of these arrangements or establish their own arrangement. Either way, the court must determine that the schedule is in the child’s best interests before turning the schedule into an enforceable order.

Holidays to Include in Your Visitation Schedule

Your holiday schedule could include various holidays, including:

  • Religious holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Easter
  • Federal holidays, including Labor Day and Memorial Day
  • School breaks, including winter break, spring break, and summer
  • Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • New Year’s Eve and Day
  • Christmas Eve
  • Fourth of July
  • Halloween
  • Your child’s birthday

Your schedule could also incorporate other days that hold special significance for you, such as your birthday or Veterans’ Day, where you can take your child somewhere to remember a family member who served. You could also include other days your child is out of school, such as teacher preparation days.

Tools to Make a Holiday Visitation Schedule

Fortunately, there are various tools that you can use today to make your visitation schedule easier, such as:

  • Websites
  • Apps
  • Shared calendars
  • Paper calendars
  • Court-suggested schedules

A lawyer can also assist.

Contact the Orlando Child Custody Lawyers at McMichen, Cinami & Demps for Help Today

If you would like assistance in Orlando, FL, from an experienced Orlando child custody lawyer for help determining your holiday visitation schedule, reach out to McMichen, Cinami & Demps. We have over 50 years of combined experience in family law, an attorney who is board-certified in Marital and Family Law, and attorneys trained in collaborative law. We can help devise a schedule that best serves your family’s needs. Call today at (407) 898-2161 for a confidential consultation.

McMichen, Cinami & Demps – Orlando Office
1500 E Concord St
Orlando, FL 32803