The holiday season is fast approaching. If you are currently in the middle of a divorce or paternity case, you may not have a holiday timesharing schedule in place yet. Holiday timesharing temporarily replaces your everyday schedule. In other words, even if you have a regular timesharing schedule that you follow, if there is not a specific holiday schedule in place, you may not see your children for the holiday if the other parent’s normal timesharing is on that day.
Parents should discuss the holidays that their family typically celebrates. The Court usually equally divides the major holidays between the parents. For example, if your family celebrates Christmas, one parent would have the child(ren) Christmas Eve from 10:00 am until Christmas Day at 10:00 am. The other parent would have the child(ren) Christmas Day from 10:00 am until 10:00 am on December 26th. The following year, the parents would switch. Of course, if the family always spends Christmas Eve with the Mother’s family and Christmas Day with the Father’s family, the parents can agree to continue this tradition, and only need to decide at what time to exchange the child(ren).
It is important to work out the holiday schedule in advance because the Court will not have time to set a hearing on your request if the other parent will not cooperate. If you are unable to agree with the other parent, it is important to contact an attorney as soon as possible. An attorney can schedule mediation or negotiate with the other parent’s attorney to fashion a temporary holiday schedule for this year. This temporary agreement can then be sent to the Court to be adopted as a court order. Once the temporary agreement is adopted by the Court, both parties are obligated to follow the agreement.