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Any parent knows that the holiday season can be equally joyous as it is chaotic. Between seeing extended family and spending time with your own children, there can be a lot to coordinate. For co-parents who are not necessarily celebrating the holidays “together,” but have children with whom they wish to celebrate, it is extremely important to have a plan in place to address how their time with the children will be spent during the holidays.
The term “holiday custody schedule” or “holiday access schedule” refers to the defined schedule that each parent has with their children for major holidays. Of course, what is considered a “major” holiday will depend on which holidays the parents choose to celebrate. Examples of major holidays that are often included in custody agreements include July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Your holiday custody schedule should be contained in your custody agreement or Court Order setting forth your custody arrangement. If you do not have a custody agreement with your co-parent but are concerned that you may not see eye-to-eye on how to divide the holidays, it is extremely important that you work on establishing a custody agreement which addresses the holidays. Without a signed custody agreement and Court Order solidifying that agreement, you could find yourself in the middle of a disagreement about where your children will be spending time for the holidays.
Yes, it is quite possible that your holiday schedule is different from your regular custody schedule. The term “regular custody schedule” refers to the schedule that you have with your children during school weeks and other normal, non-holiday time periods. Most times, co-parents will develop a separate holiday custody schedule which overrides the regular custody schedule. This is designed to ensure that each parent has time with the children during major holidays and their holiday access isn’t left to chance as to how the regular custody schedule may fall on certain holidays.
There are many different types of holiday custody schedules and there is no “right or wrong” when it comes to designing a holiday schedule. The most important thing that a holiday custody schedule should accomplish is giving the children an opportunity to spend time with each of their parents for major holidays. Holiday custody schedules often take into account the preferences of each parent for which holidays they celebrate, logistical issues such as how far the parents live from each other and what type of schedule will create a sense of normalcy for the children.
In some cases, parents may choose to split a holiday in half by exchanging the children on the day of the holiday. For example, if both parents celebrate Christmas, one parent may have Christmas Eve into Christmas morning with the other parent getting the children at a designated time on Christmas Day. Parents will typically alternate years so that they each get a certain part of the holiday with the children every other year. In other cases, parents may choose to alternate years for the entire holiday. For example, the Father may get Thanksgiving in odd years while the Mother gets Christmas in odd years; in even years, Mother would get Thanksgiving while Father would get Christmas. These are just two examples of the many different ways that a holiday custody schedule can be created.
It is extremely important to have a holiday custody schedule in place for the holiday season. The Greenberg Legal Group has extensive experience drafting custody agreements which include holiday custody schedules that are tailored to your needs. Our firm is located in Annapolis, Maryland and practices in Courts throughout the State of Maryland. Please contact our office at (410) 237-6558 for further assistance.
