What Will Your Holiday Time-Sharing Schedule Look Like?

While many people look forward to the latter end of the year as a time to celebrate together with family members and engage in holiday traditions, this time of year can become a bit more difficult to navigate when two parents are divorced or separated. The best way to avoid disagreements over who gets to spend which holidays with their child is to come up with a detailed time-sharing plan. Whether a family decides to split holidays equally, alternate holidays, or even celebrate together will depend on their unique circumstances and ultimately, what would be best for their child.

Factors to Consider 

As we mentioned previously, one of the best ways to take the stress out of sharing custody during the holidays is to craft a detailed time-sharing agreement. When drafting this schedule, parents should consider taking number of factors into account, including:

• The children’s ages;
• Family traditions;
• Religious beliefs;
• The time-sharing arrangement for other holidays;
• The parents’ relationship; and
• The child’s relationship with each parent.

By addressing these factors, parents can come up with an arrangement that best suits their families. If, for instance, one parent is religious, then spending a certain holiday with the child may be more important for him or her. Similarly, if one parent traditionally takes the child on a vacation during the summer months, then the other parent may be granted a larger portion of time-sharing over the holidays.

Holiday Time-Sharing Options 

How a holiday time-sharing arrangement ends up looking will depend largely on the family’s particular circumstances. Many families, for instance, choose to alternate the holidays, where each parent gets to spend the holiday with their child every other year. A parent, for instance, may custody on Thanksgiving during odd-numbered years, while the other parent gets visitation on even-numbered years. Other parents, however, decide to split holidays equally, with one parent getting custody for the first half of winter break and the other parent getting visitation on the latter half of winter vacation. Some parents even split the holiday itself, with a child getting to spend Christmas Eve with one parent and Christmas morning with the other. If two parents have a particularly amicable relationship, it may even be possible to celebrate the holidays together. For help coming up with a holiday time-sharing schedule that best suits your own family’s needs and wishes, please reach out to our legal team today.

Call Cairns Law and Speak with a Florida Child Custody Lawyer Today 

We know that the holidays can be a difficult time for newly divorced parents. Fortunately, you don’t have to grapple with the issues that often arise during these times, including time-sharing over the holidays, on your own. For assistance with your own parenting plan, don’t hesitate to call the experienced Clearwater child custody lawyers at Cairns Law today. We are happy to schedule meetings in the evenings and on weekends. Call us at 727-683-1472 to get started on your case.

Sources: 

forbes.com/sites/frawleypollock/2019/12/17/co-parenting-tips-for-the-holidays/?sh=c0053256044d

flcourts.gov/content/download/686031/file_pdf/995a.pdf