I couldn’t see my kids for the holidays

I hope that you are enjoying the holiday season with your family!

But for some of you, it may not be a happy holiday because you may not have been able to see your kids, let’s try to fix that…NOW!

Assuming that you already have an Order for parenting time, it may be as simple as either: 1) reaching an agreement with your ex regarding when each of you will spend time with your child during the holiday or 2) asking the Court to incorporate the Court holiday schedule.

If you and your ex can reach an agreement, that’s great! What you should do in that case is type it up and get it notarized. That way, neither of you can claim your signature was forged and the Court can consider it when you go to Court. For instance, you may want to simply alternate every holiday and split equally longer holidays, such as spring break, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or any other way that you agree on!

In most cases, the parents can’t agree on the holidays and the Court must impose the Court holiday schedule. You can download a copy of that here. Although this schedule addresses all the holidays, it can still be confusing. So here’s a few tips about the Court holiday schedule:

• First, it supersedes normal parenting time. So that means the Court holiday schedule may give parenting time you would not normally have. For example, if you are the dad and your parenting time is Friday to Sunday every week, in 2017, you would also have parenting time on Monday, May 31, 2017 (Memorial day) from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm. So although you would not normally have Monday parenting time, the Court holiday schedules gives it to you.

• Second, unless otherwise indicated on the schedule, you still have your normally scheduled time. For example, assume you are dad and your parenting time is Saturday at noon until Monday at 9:00 pm and in 2017, your birthday falls on a Monday. You would have parenting time on your birthday from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm. But you would also still have that additional hour of your normally scheduled parenting time. You wouldn’t lose an hour.

So what can you do if you don’t have the Court holiday schedule? File an application with the Court to get it. Trust me, it reduces the number of things to argue about!

Something else to remember: it will take you about 30 days to get into Court. Don’t wait until November 1 to file your application hoping to get parenting time for Thanksgiving. You are not going to make it into Court in time. Also, so many parents have this same idea so around the holidays (end of October until January), it takes longer than usual and you probably wouldn’t be in Court for about 45 days.

Do you need to get the Court Holiday Schedule in your case? Or are you simply confused about how to read it? Give me a call at 609-892-8773!

The contents on this blog entry are provided for informational purposes only. You should consult with an attorney to determine how the law applies to the facts of your particular case.