This is my second go around on the standard visitation order for November in Texas.  You can see my first round here.  The song remains the same, only the dates have changed.  Actually that is not true.  Last year was the custodial parent’s Thanksgiving holiday and this year’s visitation belongs to the non-custodial parent.  That changes things a bit as you will see below.

The weekend visits this month are the 4th and 18th.  The parent with standard visitation will also get each Thursday this month (including Thanksgiving).  Pretty simple, right?

Now the hard part – the Thanksgiving holiday.  The age old question in most of our visitation battles is “when does school let out for the Thanksgiving holiday”?  If the child is off for the entire week of Thanksgiving, then visitation is a no-brainer.  The non-custodial parent gets visitation beginning Friday the 18th and keeps the child until the Sunday following the Thanksgiving holiday (or return to school Monday depending upon your order).  This includes if the Monday and Tuesday are “in-service” days or the kids are not otherwise in school.

However, if the children have school on Monday the 21st, then your weekend ends at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday the 20th or, depending upon your order, at the time school resumes that Monday.  Your next possession would begin when the child is let out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday, typically Tuesday or Wednesday in this scenario.  It will end on the Sunday following the holiday.  Your next possession will be in November.

It seems easy enough when I write this, but I know there will be a million questions as the holiday approaches.  I will do my best to answer each of your questions in a timely manner so feel free to comment.I hope everyone has a happy Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Talk to you next month.