How a Detailed Time-sharing Schedule Could Save Your Holiday Season

Time-sharing is one of the biggest challenges parents face after they divorce. Making sure children get equal time with their parents can go a long way toward easing some of the disruption that often occurs during a divorce.

Whether you’re in a situation with shared parental responsibility, or sole parental responsibility, the holiday time-sharing schedule may produce a potential for conflict during this time of year, if it is not detailed adequately within your parenting plan.

Parents naturally want their children to spend quality with them during the holiday season, and in that desire, they sometimes forget that equal time with both parents is most often in the best interests of the child.

Solet’s take a look at how creating awritten holiday time-sharing schedule, included in your parenting plan, can help resolve a lot of the issues that crop up when your kids are out of school during the holiday season.

What Is a Holiday Time-sharing Schedule?

A standard time-sharing schedule details how you and the other parent will spend time with your child after a divorce. If you have agreed on shared parental responsibility, then yourtime-sharing schedule, included in the parenting plan, should list which days your child is at your home and which days your child is with the other parent.

It many cases, the time-sharing schedule will also detail how you will handle summer vacation as well as any trips that you or the other parent want to take with your child out of town.

Occasionally, divorcing parents overlook addinga holiday time-sharing schedule, which usually includes:

  • Holiday List for the Year – The holiday time-sharing schedule should include all major holidays during the calendar year from New Year’s Day to Christmas. This can include official holidays as well as other seasonal events such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Halloween, and birthdays.
  • Times – This details when that holiday starts and ends.
  • Yearly – Parents can decide which holiday the child will spend with a specific parent for each year.
  • Even Numbered Years – Parents can decide which holiday the child will spend with a specific parent on even numbered years.
  • Odd Numbered Years – Parents can decide which holiday the child will spend with a specific parent on odd numbered years.

Some Florida courts may have a printed model holiday time-sharing schedule, but if not, you can create your own. If a Florida court does provide a time-sharing schedule, in most cases, parents may still create their own holiday time-sharing schedule that is tailored to their specific circumstances.

While you may need to adjust the time-sharing schedule during the year, the fact that you already have a working parenting plan/time-sharing schedule to use can be helpful when changes are necessary.

Time-Sharing Is About Your Child

Although divorce can be one of the most difficult times in a parent’s life, time-sharing should always be about providing your child with a nurturing environment. The Law Office of Eric C. Cheshire P.A. P.A. has over 30 years of experience handling these cases and helping parents achieve that goal. Please call us today at (561) 677-8090 to schedule a confidential consultation.

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