Making a visitation plan is crucial if you get visitation rights in the divorce. This may be the only time that you get to see your kids. You need a set plan that you and your ex can follow to ensure that you stay involved in their lives.
As you work toward this end, here are four things to consider:
- Do you get overnight visits? Or are you just allowed to have visitation during the day? In some cases, you may only get supervised visitation, which means you have even less freedom. Make sure you know exactly what you get and never assume “visitation” means the same thing in every case.
- If you do get overnight visits, do you want them on the weekend or during the week? The weekend visits may be easier logistically so that the children have a consistent schedule as they go to school.
- Does your plan need to change at all during the summer? Since the kids are out of school, they have a much different schedule, and your plan needs to reflect that. Do you want to ask about an extended visit so that you can spend some real vacation time with them?
- What are you going to do for birthdays and holidays? Some couples split them up. Some plan different events at different homes around the important date. Others have joint parties. Talk to your ex about what you want to do.
No matter what you decide on, the key is to understand all of your parental rights and the steps to take to put the plan in place.