Child Custody And The Holidays

Taybron Law Firm, LLC wishes you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving, and the entire holiday season, is a time to celebrate with family and friends, eat delicious foods, and be thankful for all of the good things in life.

There are many ways for a family to come together for the holidays, even if it may be difficult, and feel differently from previous years before the divorce. Our Pittsburgh child custody lawyers have years of experience arranging child custody schedules to make sure that each parent has the time to spend with their kids during the holiday season. Here are some ways that a child custody schedule can divide the holidays:

1. Share the holiday. This is the most common arrangement for splitting custody time between parents. Usually, one parent will have custody of the children for the morning of the holiday, and one parent will get the afternoon. For longer holidays, such as Christmas eve/ Christmas or Hannukah, then the days will be divided between the parents, so that one parent gets Christmas Eve to Noon on Christmas Day, and the other parent gets Christmas day to the day after Christmas. Then, the days that each parent receives are switched every year, so that the parent who does not get Christmas eve with the kids one year will be able to spend it with them the next year.
2. Year on-year off. In some situations, such as in the case of parents who live far away from each other, or if one parent traditionally goes away for the holiday, then one parent will be able to exercise physical custody of the children all day every other year. The benefit of this is that you get to spend the entire day with your children, but the downside is that you only get to do this once every other year.
3. One parent gets custody on the holiday every year. This is usually the case for holidays such as Mother’s daand Father’s day, and not as much for holidays that both parents wish to celebrate.
4. Any other way that works for your family! If you and your ex can agree on another arrangement, it can be incorporated into a Custody Consent Order and generally be made enforceable.

The holiday season is a special time to be with your family, regardless of divorce. Contact our Pittsburgh child custody attorneys today to discuss your holiday child custody schedule!