Who Gets the Kids for the Holidays?
When you have been through a divorce, you might be struggling to figure out how parenting time is going to work. Thankfully all divorce proceedings require that a parenting plan is created that both parents have to adhere to in order to share time with their children. In most states, you and your former spouse will be able to work together to create a parenting plan that you consider to be fair for you both.
Holidays are often a point of major contention in the creation of a parenting plan. Everyone wants to see their kids for the entire holiday season each year and for birthdays and other annual holidays, but that is not possible when sharing parenting rights.
Common Holiday Kids Custody Agreements
You will usually have a few options as you ask for time with your kids during the holidays. These are the most common arrangements to cover holiday periods in shared parenting:
· Both Parents Will Split Time With the Children Equally During Holidays
You and your former spouse will split holiday breaks 50/50. This means that you will have half the stated holiday time with your kids, and your spouse will have half the time. For holidays that are just a single day, the day will be split in half.
· Alternating Years For Holidays Celebrations With Kids
The most equitable and often the least stressful option for the kids is to alternate years for holiday celebrations. You might get odd or even-numbered years assigned to you, and on your years, you will have the full Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. holiday to spend with your child.
Birthdays and other kinds of holidays might be considered unique in your parenting plan if you and your former spouse wish. Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are almost granted to each parent every year unless they conflict with a school day or some other event. If you want to split religious holidays in some unique fashion, you will just need to request that these holidays be addressed as well during the parenting plan creation process.
Remember that the holiday arrangements that you come up with are intended to be for the benefit of your child or children. Trying not to get in a fight with your former spouse over who gets time with the kids is always a good idea. It can be much easier to accept the parenting plan options offered to you if you are not worried about beating your former spouse in some way or getting more time than they get to have with the kids.
Parenting Plans Are Intended to Make Holiday Time Equitable and Fair
While it might not feel like it, the process of creating a parenting plan is intended to make it easier and less stressful to co-parent with someone that you are divorced from. The process of creating a parenting plan is essential to protect the rights of both parents to spend time with their kids, and you will need to address your concerns about holiday time during the process of the creation of this plan. You may not get to spend every holiday with your kids, but you will get access to equitable time through the use of this planning process.
Contact us at Jabro Law Group for help with your parenting plan needs so that you get
