It is the month of May and summer in Texas is upon us. Just a little refresher on summer visitation and the standard visitation orders in Texas.
For the parent with visitation:
April 1st is the deadline to designate your thirty days of visitation in the summer if your standard possession order is out of Texas. If you designated days, then you know when your visit begins and ends. If you did not designate your visitation times by April 1st then it defaults to July 1 through July 31st . The possession beginning and ending times are 6:00 p.m. by default in Texas. Always check your order for exact dates and times.
Custodial parent (parent with custody):
For the custodial parent, you have certain times set out for you for summer visitation in Texas as well. If you give the visiting parent notice by April 15th you can designate one weekend in their thirty day period of possession to have the child. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday and you must do all the driving (i.e. pick up and drop off). If you did not designate this weekend by April 15th then you lose that weekend.
For example, if the visiting parent did not designate their thirty day summer possession by April 1st then we know they get the month of July. If the custodial parent gives notice between April 2 and April 15 of a weekend in July that they would like possession of the child, they get that weekend. If they do not give notice during that time frame they do not get any weekends during the thirty days summer visitation of the visiting parent.
The custodial parent gets and additional summer weekend pursuant to the standard visitation orders in Texas. This weekend takes place outside of the visiting parent’s thirty day summer possession. If the custodial parent gives the visiting parent notice by April 15th or 14 days written notice on or after April 16th, that parent can choose one weekend during the summer to exercise visitation that would have otherwise been the visiting parent’s weekend. Again, this visit begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and ends at 6:00 p.m. on the following Sunday and the custodial parent must do all the driving.
Using our example above we know that the visiting parent has extended summer possession for the month of July in Texas without any other notice. That leaves June and August for the custodial parent to choose a weekend. Lets say custodial parent misses the April 15th date but gives written notice to the other parent on July 16th that they will exercise their summer visitation weekend on August 6th, a weekend that would have otherwise been the visiting parent’s weekend. Under that scenario, that parent would have the child beginning July 31st at 6:00 p.m. through August 20th at 6:00 p.m. (the next weekend possession by the visiting parent). That allows plenty of time for a summer vacation to some beautiful locale in the great State of Texas.
Again, check your order for exact times for pick up and drop off as they may vary in your order.
That about wraps it up for summer visitation in Texas under a standard possession order. As always, feel free to comment.
Tags: Divorce, holiday, Standard Possession Order, summer, Visitation
Hello,
We have SPO and I (mother) am custodial parent. Father is military and frequently does not exercise visitation at last minute and it’s a given that I will cover his visitation for his drills and travels. He backed out of his half of Christmas and most recently Easter. The last several summers he has traveled with his job and not done visitation. He will be out of town this summer as well. He does not want me to have time alone and has done this consistently.
At time of divorce, 1.5 years ago, he was making over $6K/month, I had been homemaker making $0.
I cannot afford to cover his visitations or obviously a lawyer but it’s seems politically incorrect to request extra money from a soldier to cover her own childs expenses but the fact is I simply cannot afford it. He can. Also, His salary doubled during the course of our marriage, we moved many times, and he was away at various schools and trainings for his jobs. I was not given any money to update skills after being stay at home mom for 9 years. I have custody but. Oh my God, it’s too much issues and he is completely inflexible but I’m expected to respond to his last minute whims and his work travel with no money or means to develop my own career to support my child. I don’t even know what I’m asking at this point.
if the noncustodial parent elects not to exercise 30 consecutive days in July, but want to have visitation the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekend throughout the summer does notice needs to be given to the custodial parent? Or will the non custodial parent forfeit visitation in July?
The noncustodial parent did not give notice to the custodial parent regarding summer visitation. The noncustodial parent’s job keeps the noncustodial parent away from home from Monday – Thursday. Therefore, the noncustodial parent’s job schedule is conflicting with the extended summer visitaion time from July 1 through July 31. May the noncustodial parent elect to have vistation on the 1st and 3rd weekends in July or will the visitation time be lost in July, if it is not taken consecutively from July 1 – 31?
Under the standard possession order for > 100 miles, what does “seven days before school starts” mean? School resumes August 27. SPO says the summer visitation must end at least 7 days before school resumes. NCP designation ends Aug 13. I designated Aug 14 – Aug 20. NCP says this is invalid because it’s less than 7 days before school resumes. Is he right?
I am not sure why you are designating anything. If you are custodial, under a standard possession order, the most you would be designating would be a weekend. Not sure why you are designating a week unless you do not have a standard possession order. You may need to pay an attorney to look at this.
That is tough to say without looking at your order. If the NCP did not designate extended summer possession, then they get July 1 – July 31st. They get every weekend that month under a standard possession order. Under that standard order, if they do not pick up the child on the 1st they waive the entire visit and weekends would resume in August.
If that is the case with your order, I still suggest you work something out where they can visit in the month of July. It is best for the kids. You should address your questions to an attorney whom you pay to review your order and advise you.
my husband and i asked his ex wife if we could take their daughter on a cruise in june. she said ok. he never had a problem before with visitation, they always worked it out so they both could see her equally during the summer until he and i got married. now she is trying to “do what the papers say” so my question is since we did not specify that was time we wanted for our summer visitation. will that week count against us? do we still get the 30 days in july or will we only get her for 23.
although the weekend we are leaving is ours anyway so i guess it would only be 4 days that we are losing if any
I apologize for posting my question under the wrong subject…..so I’m posting again…..but my question was….when exercising the July 1 – July 31st summer possession, is the “visiting” parent responsible for daycare/childcare fees?
Does the non-custodial parent still get to excercise their 1,3,5 weekends during the summer? (They already are excercising July visitation).
Yes. Please thoroughly review my blog as I discuss all these issues. Search for “weekends”. There are answers to all kinds of other standard visitation questions as well. Poke around.
My ex and I had arranged to do a two weeks on / two weeks off schedule this summer. As such, he did not give me notice by April 1st. Instead, he sent me an email agreeing to the on/off schedule on April 7th. Everything seemed fine, until he informed me in May that he’d taken a new job out of state and was moving. He then declared that, since he would now be living more than 100 miles apart, that he would be getting 42 days in the summer. We negotiated an agreeable visitation schedule (basically dividing the summer in half, with him getting the first 44 days, then me getting the second 44 days of the 88 total). However, he has since asked to modify the details of that agreement three times in as many weeks. When I refused the last modification, he was…unhappy. Things quickly devolved from there in ways I don’t want to go into. At the end of it, I’ve decided to just stick to what the paperwork says, which dictates that his visitation will be from June 15 – July 27, since we are now over 100 miles apart.
I did find out that he knew he was moving back when he agreed to the on/off schedule, and so had no intention of keeping it. He also lied about the job when I first heard about it, then lied about the details again at another time, before finally telling me the truth in May. He also posted privately on his Facebook that he and my child will be moving “for good”, which a friend screen captured and sent to me. To be honest, I’m very concerned that there will be difficulty getting my child back at the end of his visitation period, and I’m worried that doing anything other than what is explicitly stated in our divorce decree will lead to confusion and delay the process of getting my child back, should he decided to keep him past the end of his visitation period.
My question is this. Since he did not give me notice about the move, instead agreeing to an on/off schedule in April, I had no need to give notice about weekends in July, since they were to be incorporated into the schedule we’d agreed to. However, since we’re now going with the default summer visitation for him, am I unable to get my weekends during his 42 days since I didn’t give notice by April 15, even though I wasn’t made aware of his new situation until May? (My decree specifies that I get two during his period of possession.)
To be honest, I don’t expect him to allow me any visitation during his summer possession, regardless of if I’m still entitled to them or not. I just need to know for my records, in the event that we need to go to court if he refuses to return my child at the end of his period of summer possession and/or if I need to petition the court for a modification at a later time.
Thanks,
-Brittany
my ex seems to think that since i get my child for the entire month of july then thats all i get her. i have a standard possession order and the way i read it is i get her 1,3,and 5 of EVERY month not just the months while she is in school. i dont have the money to take her to court for enforcement. what should i do. i mean by the time i got a court date summer is over and she wins. what should i do.
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for your previous response. I will explain the scenario and then ask the question. The non custodial parent’s job schedule conflicts with the Extended Summer Visitation Schedule, as the non custodial parent is away from home Monday through Thursday afternoon. The non custodial parent has a wife who cares for the children in his absence. As you know, without notice to the custodial parent the Extended Summer Vistation Schedule begins on Sunday, July 1 through Tuesday, July 31. A new order was just presented, which notes each parent has a “First Right of Refusal” should the parent who is scheduled to have possession of the children is away or absent from more than 24 hours. After review of the parenting plan, there are no ground rules to this stipulation. The non custodial parent will comply with the order and give notice to the custodial parent to determine if the custodial parent will exercise their right to care for the child. The question is: If the custodial parent exercises their right to care for the child, does the non custodial parent have the right to get the children back upon return on Thursday. Or will the “First Right of Refusual” override/forfeit the consecutive days given to the non custodial parent in the month of July?
Here is a tricky question. NCP picked children up from residence less than 100 miles from his for what was to be a weekend visit on June 15th. CP parent moved over the weekend and sent notice to NCP, which had not been received by June 17th, and children were not returned. CP contacted NCP and was informed that he would be keeping the children for 45 days (two toddlers with no advance warning who’ve never been away from their mother for more than a weekend). Which residence rules on the summer visitation. The residence that was slightly less than 100 miles, where they were picked up (he is clearly thinking it is over 100 miles but it is a little less), or the new residence that the children aquired while they were already with their father? In other words, since the less than 100 miles piece ruled at the time of pick up, does he have to bring them back until July 1?
We live 300 miles apart, and have been very relaxed about weekend visits, just using the decree as a guide. As always it gets more complex as time goes by. Summer we agree 21 days with non cust parent, one week back, then 21 more days with non cust. parent. during each 21 day stent cust parent gets 1 weekend.
Saying all that- in non summer visitation does the ncp have to give any notice that they are going to visit on their standard 1,3 or 5th weekend. The ncp does not give notice and we are having to constantly cancel enrichment activities. The ncp is very inconsistant with visits sometimes twice a month but most of the time 1 every three months.
As a side note- The NCP also does not pay any copays or other shared expenses, but does pay child support and carries insurance.
I am just not sure what can be done to provide stability to visits-
Dear Chris, question. A child is visiting noncustodial parent for July. He has a week long Cub Scouts Trip to Colorado from Texas. The noncustodial parent, although previously ok with it, suddently forbids the child from going (age 12) 3 days before departure date. The child is troop leader. Is this legal?
Sorry in a haste. The trip will be during the noncustodial parents’ July. His argument is “why are you sending him in July, during MY month?” This is the only time the trip is planned each year–is in July. He and his girlfriend also take the child’s phone away from him for the duration of his visit, and have no house phone, so he is unable to communicate with his mother unless they loan him a phone.
What if the NCP choses to not come at all for his 30 day and just wants to keep his weekends??
My childs father only comes when he feels like it. Telling me he has to work, as do i… so he cant take our child for 30 days or even a week at a time. Is there anything i can do about this? Even on his weekends with our child my son stays up at his job with other people watching him. I would love to have had our son spend time with his dad.
I’m curious. My ex and I live in the same TX town. My ex has her for this month. I chose my weekend for this weekend. He told me yesterday, that he got last minute reservations to Destin, FL and if I wanted to see her, I’d have to drive there to pick her up and drop her back off. Is this accurate or does he have to drop/pickup at our normal location in our TX town?
Are thursdays still the same as they are in the school term?
I am the custodial parent and my childrens father does not want the for his summer vaction time. I have to work in order to maintain bills and my mother will keep them in the summer. Does he still have a right to make me give them over to him during what would be his normal visititation of the year? If I cannot afford to put them in daycare and he does not what them what can I do? I let him know 3 weeks before I took them to my mothers house and at first he was ok with it now he changed his mind. He wants them on his weekends. What are my rights as custodial parent.
I have custody of my grandsons.last year the judge changed the order from supervised to standard visitation. My daughter took the boy for her 30 days and took them out of state on vacation. Now she has returned and is refusing to give them back. What can I do?
I am the custodial parent & my child does not want to visit her father anymore. She just turned 12 and has her friends & activities that she wants to pay attention to instead of visiting her father. Her father has had an abusive past, protective services will not help unless they have to take her into their custody. She really just wants to visit her father once or twice a month, not the standard first, third, & fifth plus summer as required. Do I have to take my ex husband back to court or can my child just elect not to go over there?
You know we all have problems with all custody issues , but let me ask the world this …
You have two daaughters and a ex wife ,it all starts out that you get filled on for a false accusation of child abuse the judge throws that out the window quick,after this accusation you feel something just isn’t right with the picture so u counter sue for custody.
While your in court your ex just sits around with there family laughing and giggling and having a good ole time you tell your lawyer I feel there is just something more to the false alligagation you just dealt with while ur waiting on the judge to pursue your counter claim so you tell your lawyer ask for a urine test and hair test for drugs .so your attorney gets her chance to tell her side and why we are countersuing and request a drug test , so your sitting there and after your lawyer throws the drug test out you notice your ex gets really serious and no more cutting up in the court room … Hmm Wtf u ask yourself ” maybe she drank last night ” …
Well then your ex gets up and pulls her lawyer to the side and is all hush hush with him , then sits alone untill wego into the back and do our drug test .and then you leave for the day
As your sitting and waiting for your results 3 days goes by and your lawyer calls you and said well your clean and you say u know so then ask you ask about you ex’s results so your lawyer calls the ex attorney and they say oh we haven’t gotten them , so your back in court for your temporary orders now three weeks after the drug test and the judge appoints a ad litem to be the eyes and ears for your case ,while in rescess your lawyer ask again for the results on the drug test ,the other lawyer again says nope nothing ye
Nex you meet your ad litem in the case the first thing out of her mouth is she is totally against a father who spanks there daughter for only using a stove and almost setting your kitchen on fire when she knows the rule about using the stove or oven …
So that was her first comment to you before introducing herself or anything …hmm you know where this is going ” now let me remind you its been three
The next comment from the ad litem was we were to pick three counselors for the kids which are girls age 9 and11 now she tells you to pick three so she could pick one and they CAN NOT BE A MALE
you leave court that day with a bitter taste in your mouth for trying to do the best for your kids , your seeing them dumped off all the time on ur exs weekends so they can party and drink , hear about the parties they throw in the prescensoyour kids with pills being passed out , ur third grader is failing the third grade and says she can’t get help with school work because her mom is always out in the garage drinking beer .
So your lawyer tells you she is going to the drug testing place . She gets there and ask for the results for our case and they assuse she is your ex’s lawyer cuz she is a female also . She looks at the print out and its a posite for cocaine with a result of being a recreational user !!! Oh this explains a lot!!!!
Your lawyer then files for a immediate tempory for removing the kids from that situation , that got thrown out then your lawyer calls the ad litem and tells her the results of the drug test , she has known for sometime she says but she could understand a one time use !!! Wtf ??? My lawyer says it was more then a one time use it was shown as to be a recreational user .
After this you get your visit from the ad litem while you have your kids which is only on a day to day scheduled by the ad litem that isu totally against a father whooping there kid that the judge already thrown out of the court.she walks thru yourhouse and takes both kids outside and talk with them for 5 mins together .then leaves and after this you get your interview with the adlitem which calls you on the phone and states she was suppose to do the interview in person but she didn’t have time , and she was suppose to talk to the kids alone also not together but she didn’t have time !!! Really no time to find out about your home or the place the kids come to ? I knew she was against a man at that point and her not having the time to do her job right was going to be bad for the kids when the outcome comes out of this witchs mouth . The whole time on the phone when I would express my concerns all she would do is make a excuse for my ex… Whatever in the middle of the interview she told me I she would have to call me back because she needed to do something else . Not enough time to do a thurough job.what a joke
After this your appointed to do mediation. So you go and the adlitem tells the decision of her and what she thinks would be best and that would be to leave them with the mother who dumps them off every weekend to party and the person who uses cocaine and abuses alcohol? I went of and told my side of why I disagreed with her and after I went of I stated I know this is Texas and its a woman state but I would keep trying for my kids !!! The mediator told me she agreed 100% with me except with Texas being a woman state . And to keep fighting . She then looked at the adlitem which the mediator is a adlitem also , but looks at the adlitem AMD the if she could have a word with her in the hall . 5 mins goes by and the adlitem comes in and ask if she could have time with my lawyer in private . My lawyer comes back in and tells me she thinks my speech made her look bad in front of the other professional and ask us to make another list of concerns . Then your private investorgator finds out some serious issues for you he finds out your youn daughter who would of been 7 at the time was asking another girl’s to have sex with her now really at the age of 7 ??? And the other girls parents went to my ex and told her she needed to get that handled . Two years went by and never anything about this was told to me ??? Wtf did something happen at one of these places they have been dumped at when she needed to get drunk or her fix for some coke??? So your attorney gets counseling ordersfor the kids and sets it up , now the ex was responsible for taking them and hmm how convenient she tells this counselor that they needed counseling because the two girls seem to fight a lot ???? What about the real stuff the real concerns ??? In the end at trial the judge stops the trial and calls both lawyers up and says there just isn’t enough to flip custody … And he makes a derogertory comment about the line of work I do like he had a bad dealing with some other person that does my type of job … I think I should be able to ask for another judge to hear this case because he discriminated me and also the adlitem she discriminated against me the first word out of her mouth !!! But I guess my ex shoving soap down my daughter’s throat is ok and slapping them across the face is good or telling my kids she can’t wait till they get older so she can go party with them !!! I hope nobody in Texas gets Brittney boerner as a adlitem she does not do her job right , and judge Ramos with his discriminating comments and acting like a parent who uses cocaine is ok to leave the kids with and who uses tactics to try to keep the kids from there father , she with held them for over a month from me , that isn my eyes is grounds enough for terminating her being the primary parent that is a drastic change in circumstance so is the cocaine and the sexual deviant behavior from my daughter !!!! What is wrong with Texas ??? So I guess if I was a business man that used cocaine I would be the better parent and be able to have my kids everyday ??? After he stops the trial after lunch he orders us back to mediation . For what ??? He also tells both lawyers the way he is leaning twords is leaving the kids in the environment they have been in ??? Wtf why mediate and try to work things out with a druggie and alcoholic they knowthey win already . So I ask for first right of refusal if for any reason she don’t have care control and custody of my kids they come with me , she says only if she goes out of town I say no!!! Now were trying to deal before mediation to save 500 bucks a piece . But its not right what the judge did and pretty much tell them they one this cuz that leaves us with issues they don’t have to agree too . Like the first right of refusal. Also I wanted 5 years of hair sample drug test done three times a year , the first year her paying the next 4 I would if she failed I het my kids immediately also I asked for more time in the summer like half the summer , she said no to all of it , if it is not her way there is no talking or dealing with het … Just like other druggies . So I’m going to get screwed in court by the judge who didn’t even listen to all myproof AMD the kids adlitem cuz she haten men period. I don’t get it … I WANT SOME FEEDBACK ON THIS CUZ IN MY EYES THIS SHOULD OF BEEN A OPEN AND CLOSED BOOK !!!!!