Child custody schedules often take into account non-school days such as 3-day weekends, Thanksgiving break, spring break, winter break, special holidays and the summer break. It is common for divorced parents to split the minor child’s non-school days even in situations where the parents do not have joint physical custody and do not share custody equally during the school year. In cases where there is clearly one custodial and one non-custodial parent, sharing vacations and breaks or non-school days allows both parents to have a meaningful relationship with frequent and ongoing contact with their children, even if the parents are divorced and they no longer live nearby. each other.
There are many different vacation and summer child custody schedules that can be implemented to allow the child to spend the same amount of time with each parent. Every situation is unique, so the best vacation and summer parenting plan for one family may not be the best for another family. The vacation and summer custody schedule should reflect what is best for the children and will generally take into account many factors including, but not limited to, the age of the children, the relationship the child has with each parent, work schedules, the distance between parents’ houses and more. This article provides examples of vacation and summer child custody schedules that can be modified according to your situation and what would be best for your children.
Summer vacation schedule 50/50
It is common for parents to share time with their children during the summer holidays. Summer vacation is usually the longest vacation of the school year. School holidays are usually 5-8 weeks or 2-3 months between May and September. During summer vacation, parents can alternate weeks, alternate every other week, or continue the regular schedule and add larger blocks of time for a vacation period with each parent.
Holiday schedule 50/50
It is also common for parents to share time with their children during the holidays. A common holiday schedule is where one parent has the child in even years and the other parent has the child in odd years for a particular holiday. Some holidays, such as Thanksgiving break, winter break, or Christmas break, spring break may be split in half each year or alternate years between parents. This depends on the family and what works best for the children and the family dynamic.
other special days
While courts often provide parenting guidelines outlining common days or observed holidays, there is really no set standard, as each family may celebrate different holidays or have special days to observe. Parents can be creative and include any mutually agreeable days, such as the parents’ birthday, the child’s birthday, Halloween, the 4th of July, etc.
With a little thought and creativity, a child custody schedule can be arrived at that evenly divides vacations, special days, summer, and non-school days between the parents so that the child can spend the same amount of time with each parent. Every family is unique, so the type of parenting plan chosen and how the child spends time with each parent may vary between households, but should ultimately reflect what is best for the children and support and encourage a healthy and loving relationship with both parents.
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