Holiday Visitation Schedules in Colorado

Figuring Out the Ways to Spend Time With Your Children

The holiday season is a wonderful time of the year to go above and beyond for your children. However, divorced parents may have to figure out ways to allow each parent to be able to spend time with their children on significant holidays. Fortunately, Colorado allows for parents to be able to choose from several options when working holidays into their parenting plans.

Alternating Holidays

Perhaps the simplest method of working holidays into a parenting plan is for parents to alternate holidays annually. In this arrangement, parents would work together to assign holidays to one another and then plan on alternating those holidays each year. For example, say one parent is given Thanksgiving in an even-numbered year and the other parent is given Christmas and New Year’s Day. During the next year, which would be an odd-numbered year, the parents switch the holidays that they have, meaning whoever had Thanksgiving in the even-numbered year would be given Christmas and New Year’s Day during an odd-numbered year.

This method of working out holidays tends to be simpler than other options because of its straightforward approach to dividing holidays and ensuring each parent ultimately receives an equal amount of time with their children.

Split Holiday Time

Another arrangement involves splitting holiday time between the two parents. While it’s certainly possible for parents to split a single-day holiday, this method tends to work better for longer stretches of time, such as holiday breaks from school.

Say a child is off from school for the winter holiday season. The child could spend time with one parent from the time they get off school up until late Christmas Eve, after which they would transition to their other parent’s residence and spend Christmas Day through their return to school with the other parent.

As mentioned, it is possible for parents to split a single day between the two of them if they can agree to such an arrangement. The child could spend the morning and early part of the afternoon with one parent before transitioning to the other parent’s care for the rest of the day.

Working with an Attorney for a Parenting Plan

If issues arise when trying to work out any aspect of a parenting plan in Colorado, consult with an attorney who understands parenting plan laws in the state and can help negotiate an arrangement. The team at Drexler Law knows how important it is for a parent to be able to spend time with their child; our team is committed to helping our clients achieve the best possible outcome to meet the best interests of their children.

To learn more about Colorado parenting plans or to schedule a consultation, call us at (719) 259-0050 or visit us online.