Model Time-Sharing/Visitation Guidelines
The following schedules are suggested as guidelines for the parents and the court in establishing time-sharing/visitation schedules. Each case will present unique facts or circumstances which shall be considered by the court in establishing a time sharing/visitation schedule and the final schedule established by the court or agreed to by the parents may or may not be what these guidelines suggest.
1. The time-sharing/visitation schedule set by the court for holidays, school breaks and summer break should control over regularly scheduled timesharing/ visitation time, even if this allows successive timesharing/ visitation periods.
2. The parent exercising time-sharing/visitation should be responsible for timely picking up the child(ren) at the beginning of the timesharing/ visitation period and returning the child(ren) in a timely manner at the end of the time-sharing/visitation period.
3. Times in a time-sharing/visitation schedule should be set in the time zone where the child primarily resides.
4. For time-sharing/visitation times pertaining to school holidays, whether in a formal school or home-schooled, the school holidays where the children) primarily resides should apply.
5. Each parent should provide to the other parent contact numbers and addresses (unless a domestic violence order is in effect) where the child(ren) can be located during their scheduled time-sharing/visitation time.
6. The parent exercising time-sharing/visitation should be given a minimum of every other weekend as time-sharing/visitation time with the child(ren) and one midweek overnight time-sharing/visitation. The parent having such time-sharing/visitation should be responsible for delivering the child(ren) to school, child care, or the other parent’s home as specifically ordered by the court or agreed to by the parents.
7. Holidays.
a. If a holiday is celebrated on a Monday following a parent’s regularly scheduled timesharing/ visitation, then that parent should be permitted to extend parenting time until 6:00 p.m. on the holiday, unless the parents agree otherwise.
b. Other holidays.
(i) Parent exercising time-sharing/visitation.
1) During the first full year after divorce/custody proceedings have been filed, the non-residential parent should have time-sharing/visitation scheduled as follows:
| a) | New Year’s Day and July 4th from 8:00 a .m. until 6:00 p .m. |
| b) | Thanksgiving, beginning at 6 :00 p.m . the day school ends until 3:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. |
| c) | Christmas/Winter Break, beginning at 6:00 p.m. the day school ends until noon on December 25. |
| d) | Holidays not listed that are of special interest to the family should be assigned to the nonresidential parent in time amounts similar to those in a), b) and c) above. |
2) Holiday time not scheduled above to the parent exercising time-sharing/visitation should be with the other parent.
3) Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, regardless of any conflict with the above proposed schedule, should be spent with the appropriate parent from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
4) Fall Break or Spring Break, as allowed by the child(ren)’s school calendar, should be scheduled for the parent with whom the child(ren) primarily resides in the first full year after the divorce/custody proceedings are filed from 6:00 p.m. the day school ends until 6:00 p.m. the following Friday. If school breaks are longer than one week due to the school schedule, the parent with whom the child(ren) primarily resides should be scheduled for the first half of the break and the other parent should be scheduled for the last half.
5) Summer Break should be scheduled to allow the parent exercising time-sharing/visitation a minimum of two periods of two consecutive weeks during the Summer Break. Each parent should provide the time periods he or she desires to the other parent before the end of the school year, or at least 60 days in advance of the requested time. If a child(ren) must attend summer school in order to pass to the next grade, summer timesharing/ visitation should not prevent school time.
6) Birthdays: Unless the birthday falls on a regularly scheduled timesharing/ visitation day, the parent exercising time-sharing/visitation should be scheduled for birthday time from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. If it is a regular day of the parent exercising time-sharing/visitation where the child(ren) does not primarily reside, the other parent should have birthday time from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
(ii) Alternating years: For each year thereafter, the timesharing/ visitation set out above should alternate between the parent with whom the child(ren) primarily resides and the parent exercising time-sharing/visitation.
8. Waiting/Tardiness/Cancellations.
a. In the event either parent will be more than 30 minutes late, due to reasonable unforeseen circumstances, to pick up the chiJd(ren), he or she should provide direct notice to the other parent or a designated third party and make suitable arrangements for exchange of the child(ren).
b. If time-sharing/visitation is missed through no fault of the parent, and reasonable notice has been given, that time should be made up, if reasonable to do so.
c. If the child(ren) is ill, the parent who has the child should give 24-hour notice, if possible, to allow for appropriate plans to be made.
9. Transportation: The parents should transport the child(ren) in a safe manner, which includes utilizing the appropriate child restraint systems and not driving under the influence of intoxicants.