Most look forward to the opportunities the holiday season offers to spend extra time with family. Yet for divorced parents in Virginia, the special time of year presents the potential for contention as both try to jockey to have as much time with their kids as possible.
One can understand this desire for a parent to have their kids with them during the holidays. Yet the court expects an understanding that one ex-spouse shares the same wish. Thus, it expects that divorced parents compromise when determining a holiday custody schedule to ensure equitable time with the kids. If they cannot do this on their own, then according to the website for the Supreme Court of Virginia, the court may come up with one for them.
Sample holiday custody schedules
Divorced parents no doubt want to ensure that they maintain control over the determination of their allotted time with their kids during the holidays. Therefore, they should consider how to split up both the time the kids are out of school as well as the actual Christmas and New Year’s holidays themselves equally between themselves.
The National Association of Legal Professionals offers parents a sample holiday custody schedule. This suggests that parents divide the kids’ holiday break into two periods: from the day schools release kids for the holidays until December 28th, and then December 28th until the day school resumes. Parents shall then switch their custodial time between each other on even and odd-numbered years.
Summertime custody allowances
The other time of the year when the potential for contention over child custody exists is summertime (when parents often want to take the kids on an extended vacation) Again, the NALS suggests that divorced parents each allow each other 2 weeks of uninterrupted custody during the summer to allow for a family vacation.
