If you have children and are under court orders regarding visitation and holiday visitation make sure to check your decree in advance to avoid problems over the holidays.
Look at the decree under holiday visitation and use a calendar to determine who gets visitation and when. Look and see what kind of notice you need to give your ex in case of changing plans.
Your Texas decree will usually say that visitation is acceptable at all times mutually agreed by the parties. So if you and your ex agree on an alternate schedule then that’s fine. The area where people get into trouble is in situations where there is or has been a lot of conflict and one party decides to just ignore the written decree and do whatever they want. That can lead to charges of contempt.
No matter what happens try to keep things calm and think of your children try to give them a good holiday.
Another issue that can arise during the holidays has to do with safety. You as a parent have an obligation to keep your children safe. This means no drinking and driving or and no engaging in behaviors or habits that are dangerous to your children. It also means looking out for your children so that they are not endangered by adults that are under the influence.
If your current visitation schedule is no longer working for you or you have continuing concerns over the behavior of some of the adults who are in your children’s life, now maybe the time to schedule a with a family law attorney about these issues.
We hope that you all have a safe happy and healthy holiday season.
