Child Custody Disputes During The Start of The Holiday Months

Families often spend the holidays together. For some people, the holiday months are the most exciting times of the year. But for others, it can be a significant source of stress. With divorced or separated couples, for instance, child custody disputes are fairly common. So how should parents deal with this?

Who Should Get The Children For The Holidays?

In California, there’s no set holiday child custody schedule. The state requires co-parents, along with their own lawyers, to come up with a custody and visitation schedule during a child custody or divorce action. The parents must ensure that the custody schedule is fair for everyone involved and is in the children’s best interests.

But if you haven’t gone to court yet, or if you have a pending child custody or divorce case, a child custody dispute may arise, especially during the holidays. You will have to come up with a fair agreement with your co-parent, with help from your Ventura child custody lawyer, while resolving all your other divorce issues. But once you and your co-parent can agree on a custody schedule that works for everyone, a judge will review it and turn it into a court order.

It’s important to make a holiday custody schedule right from the start to avoid custody disputes during the holidays. This is why most custody arrangements have special attachments that specify holiday visitation and custody schedules.

How to Create a Holiday Child Custody Schedule

Family courts allow parents to create their own holiday child custody schedules, which must specify which parent will have the children for each particular holiday. To make the process easier on parents, the courts provide a Children’s Holiday Schedule Attachment form to let parents and lawyers set out how long and when the kids will spend each holiday with each parent. The form includes all legal holidays and school breaks.

You are allowed to be flexible if circumstances suddenly change or if you want to make modifications to the arrangement. You can give extra days to your co-parent, trade days, or change the holiday custody schedule as long as you and the other parent agree on the modified arrangement. Otherwise, you are legally obligated to follow the court-approved child custody schedule or talk to your lawyer about modifying the existing custody order.

Consult With a Ventura Child Custody Lawyer Today

Child custody disputes during the holidays are very common. They usually come with strong emotions from both parents because both their extended family members are also looking to spend time with the kids. If you are fighting with your co-parent over the custody schedule, please do not hesitate to reach out to Bamieh & De Smeth to learn how you can uphold your legal rights. Our Ventura child custody lawyers have helped numerous parents and are here to guide you throughout the entire process.

To arrange a free case review with our Ventura child custody lawyer, call our office at 805-643-5555 or send us an online message today.