I will finish up my series on the Texas Standard Possession order with a discussion on the holiday visits. These holidays typically include Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other “holidays” can include Father’s day, Mother’s day, children’s birthdays, Halloween, 4th of July, etc… However, the standard is the first three.
I do not typically run into many issues with Holiday visits in my practice as they are pretty self explanatory. They typically begin at the time the child is dismissed from school and end at 6:00 p.m. on the day before school and follow an odd and even year pattern.
I sometimes get asked why the possessions end at 6:00 p.m. and not on the following Monday morning as a standard weekend may end. The only answer I can provide is that it is designed for the child to be able to unwind after the holiday and get back into the school routine prior to returning to school. This is not to say that your order cannot say something different, this is just the standard language in Texas.
The pickup time “when the child is dismissed from school” used to be a source of controversy, especially around Thanksgiving. Many schools would let out for the week of Thanksgiving which is easy to follow, but they would also schedule a teacher day or in-service day the Friday before the holiday week. The confusion arose over whether this was actually the beginning of the holiday or not. The Texas legislature recently fixed that problem by confirming that the in-service day was indeed the beginning of the “holiday”.
That is about all I have on the Texas standard possession order and holidays. If my readers have some general comments or questions, I would be happy to answer them under the comments section.
Tags: child custody, Children, Divorce, halloween holiday, holiday, holidays, Modification, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
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So if the child is under 3 and not in school but the papers so my ex can pick her up when school gets out on his days of the weekend…. can he… She isn’t in school or of school age so does school apply to her?
If an order designates that a parent picks up after school or when school lets out for a holiday, and the child is not school age, then you simply follow the school calendar for the public school the child would attend if in school. If the elementary school they would attend lets out at 3:00 p.m. then the pickup time is 3:00 p.m. If the holiday for the school district is the Wednesday before thanksgiving then that is when the pickup is for purposes of the thanksgiving holidays. The same applies to the rest of the holidays.
But does he have the right to pick her up at daycare?
But does he have the right to pick her up at daycare?
I have a holiday general question for you that I am not clear on and many others may be confused as well…
My standard papers state the noncustodial parent will get my child this year for Christmas (even numbered). The “christmas break holiday” is to begin on such and such date the child is dismissed from school and will end on December 28th at 6 pm. Easy enough to understand… my child will be allowed to spend almost 2 weeks with the noncustodial parent.
Now, here is where the confusion comes in. The noncustodial parent voiced to me last night that he does not wish to have my child the full two weeks. He would like to have him both weekends that are jammed into this allotted time, back to back weekends, but not the full allotted time frame painted out for him. Do I have to abide to his request and rearrange my holiday break around him OR when the noncustodial parent returns my child, is he basically forfeiting the remainder of his allotted time– like if he were to return my child on a Saturday afternoon vs. at 6pm on Sunday on his regular weekend schedule?
I am so confused and do not want to be in contempt or refuse my child visitation, however, I do not see it fair to cancel my “out of town” plans to accommodate his wants– I would just prefer to take my child with me out of town because I will not be back into town before the 2nd weekend he has requested to have my child available for pick up.
The non-custodial parent’s visitation starts when the school is dismissed for Christmas and ends at noon on December 28, 2010. You are responsible for providing the child for visitation when school lets out. If the non-custodial parent brings the child home early then they have effectively ended their visitation as you are not under a court order to provide the child at any other time than when school lets out. In your case, if the child is brought back that weekend, under a standard visitation order, you are not required to provide the child again for visitation until January 7th (first Friday of the month), after the Christmas holiday.
It is always best to work out arrangements by agreement in these situations. Perhaps additional time when you get back in town or something. Try to be reasonable.
I hope I answered your question.
My question refers to Halloween. It falls on a Monday this yr and I would like to take my stepson trick or treating. Does halloween fall under the definition of a federal, state, or local holiday so that we could at least take him trick or treating early before taking back at six or must we give him back on sunday at 6? Also, if his mother agrees to letting us have him via text, can she change her mind? For example, we pick him up on friday and ask to keep him til monday night, she says ok but sunday comes round and she wants him back at 6…
How does holiday, spring and summer visitation apply to children under 3? we have step ups in our order and the NCP does not have overnights until 18 months old and I do not see where there is anything lined out for holiday and summer posessions before my daughter turns 18 months
Suzanna, your order controls. There is no set standard for children under three, just guidelines. If there are not provisions in your order dealing with the holidays then you may need to get an attorney and modify your order so there is no confusion.
My ex is considerably wealthier than me. She does not work and can stay home with our three boys, ages 6, 4 1/2, and 2 1/2. she has help each day as well as it is hard (i’m not being sarcastic, its tough) raising 3 boys. However, I do work full time and do not get most holidays kids get off for school. i.e. Columbus Day, Presidents Day, etc…The school the older two attend celebrates all of those types holidays and teacher in service. I am not the custodial parent. I want my boys as much as I can get them. However, I can’t take off those days, my elected holiday each year, and two weeks in the summer and expect my employer to be okay. She has since told me she plans on working at her dads company part time and i will need me to include those days from now on b/c they are in our divorce, and b/c they fall on 1,3,5 weekends. Can I just say no, and not lose any rights? Still keep the regular part of the weekends?
Am I required to pick my children up on the designated days? If I am unable to due to work, are there any negative consequences?
It shouldn’t be if you give notice that you are unable to exercise and it does not become a regular occurrence. Good luck.
You can take the time she is offering, but you will have to make arrangements for their care during the day. If you do not, I am not sure whether that would be used against you or not. Failure to exercise court ordered visitation on a regular basis can be grounds to later modify and reduce the amount of time. Good luck to you.
Thank you. My predicament specifically is during the summer months. I am supposed to have them for 1 month, however, due to work circumstances I cannot do this. I have no problem continuing the 1/3/5 schedule during the summer, but 1 month is not possible for me especially if I were to have them during the week.
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I get possession Thanksgiving this year starting friday Nov 16th when school lets out… however… this falls on a 3rd weekend. Does this mean that her dad still gets her thursday until school lets out on friday (she’s not in school)?
Is Columbus day considered a possession holiday? Most school are out or in service but some aren’t. Does this holiday have to be specified in the order to be considered a possession holiday?
If the child is in school, then it is a normal day. If the child is out of school, and it is a standard possession order, the non-custodial parent would get that day pursuant to the extended weekend section in the order.
My wife and I are filing an uncontested divorce and have mutually agreed upon a 50/50 custody schedule. We’re filling out the forms ourselves, but none of the forms we find online seem to allow for anything other than the standard possession order. They all say something like:
“The Court ORDERS that Home Parent and Co-Parent shall have possession of the child/ren at any and all times mutually agreed to in advance by Home Parent and Co-Parent. In the absence of mutual agreement, the Court ORDERS that Home Parent and Co-Parent shall have possession of the child/ren as ordered below.”
However, there doesn’t seem to be a place to fill in a mutually agreed upon schedule. Can we just fill out a spreadsheet with our schedule and attach it to this form?
What exactly does “Notwithstanding the weekend and Thursday periods of possession, ” mean during holiday visitations? It says I get them odd year Thanksgiving from when school is out until it resumes. Does their Dad still get them on his weekend and Thursday visit? Thanks
If the father has my son for Christmas and his school gets out on the 14th for Christmas break, he gets him at 6 that Friday and has to bring him back on the 28th at 12. But do I get to have my son on Thursdays from 6 to 8 like he normally gets to? Or does he just get him for the straight 2 weeks?
Holiday visitations trump all other thursday and weekend visits. If it was your Christmas, he would not get his Thursdays or his standard weekends if it conflicted with your holiday possession.
No.