Mother's Day, Father's Day, and summer break visitation: Great opportunities to enjoy your children!

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Shahzad Khan

Mother's Day is May 9, 2010.  Father's Day is June 20, 2010.  Both are fast approaching.  In addition, so is summer break.  

If you do not have a visitation schedule with your children granting you visitation on your applicable holiday, now is the time to act.  In addition, this is a great time to act to get visitation and parenting time with your children during their summer break.  

If you do have a visitation schedule that grants you visitation on Father's Day or Mother's Day, PLEASE do not ignore it.  This is a great opportunity for you to spend some quality time with your children.  Just remember that if it wasn't for your children, you wouldn't be celebrating a mother's day or a father's day. So enjoy your special day and enjoy the company of your children.  

If you do have a visitation schedule that grants you parenting time during your children's summer break, PLEASE do not ignore it.  This is a great opportunity for you to spend some quality time with your children without the distractions of school and extracurricular activities.  You have their full attention.  Take advantage of it. 

For those parents who do have a specific court ordered visitation schedule whether for the summer or for Mother's Day or Father's Day and often times do not get to exercise their visitation due to an outright denial of visitation or interference of their visitation rights by their former spouse or former significant other, now is the time to take action and have the court order their compliance.  Take action now.  Do it for your kids. Fight to be with them.  Believe me, they will thank you for it.  

 

 

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Deadlines for Holiday Visitation

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Shahzad Khan

As we have just concluded one holiday, there is another set of holidays on their way: Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years Day.

While Brian Galbraith over at, "Ontario Family Law Blog" suggested things to remember while spending your first post-divorce holiday alone, that got me thinking about the boundaries of holiday visitation.

In most cases, a properly written parenting agreement will provide the necessary parameters for such holiday visitation. But sometimes, the parenting agreement is lacking in substance or sometimes the parties are at a stage in the litigation where the issue of holiday visitation has not hit the surface and no parenting agreement exists. 

In either case, if you don't have a holiday visitation schedule you better act fast. Having practiced throughout the state, I have come to know that many judges have their own arbitrary deadlines with regards to holiday visitation. This means that these judges will not consider a motion for holiday visitation after a set date. 

Be aware that some of those deadlines may have already passed. It is wise to check with your judge’s clerk to determine whether your judge has a policy regarding holiday visitation. It would be unwise to file an emergency motion seeking holiday visitation in a courtroom where a judge has set a deadline for holiday visitation and that deadline has already passed. You and your attorney will get an earful. I guarantee it. The judge will ask you why you didn’t think of seeking holiday visitation earlier in the year, as you were well aware that Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Years Day are all holidays whose dates are known well in advance. In addition, your motion will probably be denied. 

However, if the judges in your county do not set deadlines, you still must act fast. Christmas is only a few weeks away and people tend to leave town to be with family and friends. Judges are people like you and me and they also leave town as well. Although an emergency judge may be available in your county during the week of a particular holiday, seeking holiday visitation on an emergency basis is not a good idea and will make the judge very unhappy with you and your attorney. 

Issues pertaining to visitation are usually not considered emergencies unless there is some danger to a child. Therefore, it is prudent to act fast and get the matter in court as soon as possible.

Important points to remember: 

  • Plan ahead of time - these days you can get calendars for upcoming years well in advance.
  • Contact the clerk for your particular judge to determine his or her specific requirements as to holiday visitation. 
  • Do Not seek holiday visitation after such a deadline has passed. 
  • Remember if you fail to act fast, you deprive yourself of a opportunity to spend some quality time with your children without the distractions of school and extracurricular activities.
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