Posts Tagged ‘possession’
Friday, April 1st, 2011
It’s April and since there have been no showers (in Dallas) will there be no flowers? I know, dumb. Today will be the first weekend visitation for you non-custodial parents in Texas as it is the first Friday of the month. Your next weekend will be April 15th (second Friday of the month) and then April 29th (5th Friday of the month). It is going to be a great visitation month!
Thursdays should be standard all the way through the month. The only holiday this month is Easter weekend. Unless you have a specific provision for Easter in your decree, it will be the custodial parent’s weekend.
April is the month of notices in a Texas possession schedule. If you are the non-custodial parent and you wish to pick your extended summer visitation, you will have to have given notice by April 1st of those dates. If you do not give notice you will get July 1 beginning at 6:00 p.m. and ending on July 31st at 6:00 p.m. The custodial parent has until April 15th to designate one weekend inside the extended summer visitation that they can exercise. This weekend begins and ends at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and Sunday respectively. If they do not designate by April 15th, they lose that weekend.
The final April notice date is again April 15th. If the custodial parent gives the other parent notice by April 15th they can pick one weekend that would have otherwise been the non-custodial parent’s weekend OUTSIDE the extended summer possession. The difference between this notice and the one just above is that if notice is not given by April 15th, they still can give notice throughout the summer if given 14 days in advance.
I think that just about covers it. If you have any questions, feel free to enter them in the comment section and I will try to answer them the best I can.
Tags: Children, Divorce, holiday, possession, Standard Possession Order, summer, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Holiday visitation, Visitation | 21 Comments »
Friday, December 3rd, 2010
The holidays are in full swing as we are wedged between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope you all made it through Thanksgiving intact and didn’t put on to too much weight. 
The weekend visitations begin tonight (or last night if you have Thursday overnights) December 3rd. December 17th will be the next and last scheduled weekend visit as the 31st (5th weekend of the month) will be swallowed up by the Christmas holiday visitation.
The Thursday visits (or Wednesdays if you have an old order) will continue all month until you reach one that is within the holiday visitation. There will be no more weekday visits this month following that as we will be in the Christmas holiday.
Under a standard possession order, this was the custodial parent’s Thanksgiving, so it will be the visiting parent’s Christmas. The holiday will begin when the child is dismissed from school for the holidays or at some set time such as 6:00 p.m. Check your order. It will continue through December 28 at noon (newer orders) or December 26 at noon (older orders). The custodial parent will then have them until school resumes after the Christmas holiday. Once they return to school you will return to the standard weekday and weekend visitation schedule.
In looking at the calendar I do not see any potential major conflicts or problems with the holiday schedule but that will all depend on when your particular school district lets out. Even then it would probably only be the Thursday visit where it would arise. If problems do arise, do something special for your kids this Christmas and work it out with the other parent. Don’t fight, don’t argue, just work it out this one time.
If you missed the post a while back about cooperative parenting from one of my readers you can read it here.
If I get too heavily distracted this December and don’t post…have a merry Christmas!
Tags: holiday, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Holiday visitation, Visitation | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Alright, September is here, school is in full swing and we are back to our school time standard visitation schedule. September is a pretty straight forward month with the exception of Labor Day weekend. Labor Day is following the first Friday of the month which is a standard weekend period of possession under the standard visitation laws.
You will pick up at your normal time (per your order), however your drop off time will change this weekend. If you typically drop off at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, then you will now drop off at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. If you typically return to school on Monday morning, then you will return them to school on Tuesday morning. This provision can be found at §153.315 of the Texas Family Code for a standard visitation schedule and extends the weekend because of the Monday holiday.
Weekend visitation rights will be on the 3rd of the month and ending as described above, and the 17th of the month with standard pick up and drop off per your order. You will also have the right to each Thursday this month.
I can’t think of any other issues that could arise, but if you have any questions, please provide them in the comment section or contact me at the email to the right.
Tags: Children, Divorce, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Visitation, Visitation in Texas | 4 Comments »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
In previous posts I have discussed the various schedules that occur in a Texas standard possession order. For review we have covered:
There have been other discussions on Texas standard visitation which you can access via “visitation” on the tags below.
To finalize the discussion I wanted to cover some of the other issues that arise in Texas standard visitation.
Agreements
One of the first paragraphs in a standard possession order states that the parties are free to agree on any possession order they like, but absent agreement it will be a standard possession order. This is set out in §153.311 of the Texas Family Code. This means that standard visitation is just a fall back for when the parties cannot mutually agree on visitation. This is the legislatures way of trying to get the parents to work things out.
General Terms and Conditions
These are set out in §153.316 of the Texas Family Code. It covers:
- Where the child should be dropped off at the beginning of the non-custodial or visiting parent’s possession. This can be at the home of the custodial parent, at the home of the visiting parent, or some other location like the child’s school or a police station. Check your order to determine where this is.
- If the possession is to begin at the time the child’s school is dismissed, then the child is surrendered at the school at the end of the school day.
- Where the child should be picked up at the end of the non-custodial parent or visiting parent’s possession. This will typically be the opposite of the place in number 1., but can be at any of the three. Check your order. NOTE: All transfers are to take place at these location. If no agreement has been made to modify these provisions, this is where you must pick up and drop off.
- If the possession ends when school resumes, the visiting parent will return the child to school at the beginning of the school day.
- Each party is supposed to return the child with the clothes and items that they brought. You cannot imagine what a big issue this can become, or maybe you can. The provision is simple…what the child comes with, the child goes home with. Do the clothes have to be washed? No, it does not say that. You simply must return those items with the child.
- Each party can designate a competent adult to deliver the child. This means that a parent can pick an adult to transfer the child pursuant to numbers 1. and 2. above. If your order does not specifically restrict someone, then they can choose any competent adult. If you disagree with the adult’s competence, you will have to go to court. This provision is for pick up and drop off only. This provision does not mean that the parent can designate a person to visit with the child while the visiting parent is not there. Visitations are set up for the parents. However, there are circumstances where a parent can allow others to visit with the child (grandparents, new wife and family, etc…) This may be the subject of another post.
- Each parent shall give notice to the other parent in possession of the child if they will be unable to exercise visitation of the child. This notice should be in writing if possible. This is probably the most ignored provision of a standard possession order in Texas. You shouldn’t ignore it because if it happens enough (no notice given for missed possessions) it can be grounds to take away visitation rights.
- Send it in writing as soon as possible. This can include an email.
- If possessions begin or end at school, and the parent will not be able to get the child from or to school, you must notify the other parent so that proper arrangements can be made. Nothing will get you in trouble faster with the court than a child missing school.
The above is a general summary of some of the additional rules in a standard possession order in Texas. My comments are not all inclusive and there are many fact scenarios that I did not cover. If you are having problems with any of these, contact a local attorney and discuss it with them.
Tags: Children, Divorce, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Visitation | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
What is expanded standard visitation? The statutes governing expanded standard visitation can be found at Section 153.317 of the Texas Family Code. To understand expanded standard, you must first understand standard visitation.
A discussion of a standard visitation order for Texas can be found here:
Expanded standard visitation simply adds time on to the standard possession order. You can elect to add time on to the following times:
Weekend periods of possession, pursuant to §153.317(a)(1)(A) and (B) provides that you can pick up the child when school is dismissed on Friday and/or return the child when the child’s school resumes the following Monday.
Thursday periods of possession, pursuant to §153.317(a)(2)(A) and (B) provides that you can pick up the child when school is dismissed on Thursday and/or return the child when the child’s school resumes the following Friday.
Essentially this creates uninterrupted visitation from the end of school Thursday through the following Monday morning for a parent’s weekend possession.
There are more time available for holiday periods of possession and for extended weekends due to holidays. These can all be found at §153.317 of the Texas Family Code.
If you notice above, I used the word “elect” for determining when these apply. Under the code, the parent exercising visitation can “elect” these additional times provided as follows:
- The court finds that the expanded standard visitation times are in the best interest of the child; and
- The election is made before or at the time that the visitation order is entered; and
- The election is written and filed with the court or an oral statement is made in open court (i.e. at a hearing) on the record (a court reporter typing).
What does all that mean? It means that if you are in a current lawsuit over a visitation order, and the court is ordering a standard possession order, you can elect to have any of the expanded standard visitation times set out in §153.317 if you file a written request with the court or request it at a hearing on the record, and the court thinks it is in the best interest of the child.
The important notes are that the person exercising visitation gets to choose, and that there must be a current lawsuit pending regarding visitation. You cannot make these elections after an order is entered.
Tags: Divorce, Modification, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Divorce, Modification, Visitation | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
I love this time of year. This kids are almost out of school, swimming pools are opening and fun vacations are coming up. What does that mean for you?
If you are a father, then the Father’s Day holiday is rapidly approaching. In looking at the calendar for this year, Father’s Day will fall on a standard visitation weekend. If dad is the one with standard visitation, then it is his weekend anyway because it is the third Friday of the month.
If mom has standard visitation, even though it is a third Friday, she will not exercise that weekend’s visitation as it is a time for a father and child and their holiday trumps mom’s period of possession.
Typically the visitation for a father on Father’s Day begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and ends that Sunday at 6:00 p.m. However, always check your order for the exact times that your visitation begins and ends as they may begin when school is dismissed and end when school resumes. Your order will dictate the pick up and drop off times for holiday visitation or your weekend period of possession, whichever is applicable.
If you are asking yourself why I am discussing weekend visitation in the summer, then perhaps you should review my post on weekend periods of possession as they last throughout the year under a standard visitation order.
It is also important to note that under a standard visitation order Father’s Day weekend trumps summer weekends or summer extended periods of possession chosen by the mother. Basically it trumps everything.
It is a great time to be a dad as y’all get the whole weekend to yourself. Take a trip to Six Flags, go for a bike ride, or just hang out at the house and watch a movie. The most important part is to spend time with your kids. Enjoy!
Tags: Divorce, holiday, holidays, kids holiday, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Holiday visitation, Visitation | No Comments »
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
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
Posted in Children, Divorce, Holiday visitation, Modification, Visitation, Visitation in Texas | 18 Comments »
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Another misunderstood part of the Texas Standard Possession Order is the summer possession schedule.
If the parent with visitation (not the custodial parent) gives the parent with custody notice by April 1st of a given year they can pick thirty days for their summer possession (or 42 days if they live over 100 miles from the child). This thirty day period cannot begin until the day after school lets out for summer break and cannot end later than 7 days before the child goes back to school.
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Tags: child custody, child support, contact, custodial parent, day, Divorce, family, family law, fathers' rights, marriage, noncustodial parent, parenting, possession, social issues, summer, thirty, thirty day, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Modification, Summer visitation, Visitation | 63 Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
While the weekend possessions of a Texas Standard Possession Order are the backbone of visitation in Texas and widely understood, Thursday periods of possession are many times completely misunderstood.
Probably the most misunderstood part of the Thursday possession is when it occurs. While the weekend possessions follow essentially an every other weekend schedule, Thursday visitations under the Texas Standard Possession Order occur every week during the school term. This means that they DO NOT occur during the summer. If the child concerned is not in school, then it follows the school term for district in which the child would be enrolled if in school. For instance if the child is in daycare in Plano and lives in Plano, then the Plano Independent School District calendar would control. (more…)
Tags: Children, collin county, Divorce, holidays, Modification, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Modification, Visitation | 32 Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
This is my first post in a series on the Texas Standard Possession Order and the wording associated with visitation in Texas.
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Tags: Children, Divorce, Modification, possession, Standard Possession Order, Visitation
Posted in Children, Divorce, Modification, Visitation | 61 Comments »
It’s April and since there have been no showers (in Dallas) will there be no flowers? I know, dumb. Today will be the first weekend visitation for you non-custodial parents in Texas as it is the first Friday of the month. Your next weekend will be April 15th (second Friday of the month) and then April 29th (5th Friday of the month). It is going to be a great visitation month!
