In custody terms, child visitation refers to the amount of contact that the children have with the parents. It can be used specifically to mean the time the child visits with the non custodial parent, which is the parent that the child doesn't live with. It is also more generally to refer to the overall arrangement of custody and visitation that the parents have set up.
Parents have a lot of flexibility concerning child visitation. They can create any type of arrangement that works for them. The first thing to do when making a custody and visitation schedule is to decide the type of custody that you want for your situation. Parents can have joint custody, which means they will both spend about the same amount of time with the children. You can also have a sole custody agreement, where the children mainly live with one parent and visit the other one.
The type of custody you choose will determine how you set up your visitation. The next thing to do is to set up a little schedule--about a few weeks--where you outline the custody and visitation schedule. This few week schedule then becomes the basis for your custody calendar and you apply it over and over again through the year. This is called the repeating or rotating cycle.
There are a number of ways to set up your repeating cycle. For sole custody, you can set up where the children spent the week with the custodial parent and weekends with the other parent. Or, you can set it up so the children visit the non custodial parent once or twice a week and then every other weekend.
In a joint custody plan, the parents can alternate custody every week, every two weeks, or every month. If you choose a longer period, like the two weeks or month, of custody you can schedule in some visits to the other parent. You can also have the children spend time with one parent for half the week and the other parent for the other half.
Another part of child visitation is deciding where the child will spend holidays. Usually the parents divide the holidays between them--with both parents getting major and minor holidays. You can also include vacation time with each parent in your visitation schedule.
Child visitation is one of the biggest and most important issues in a custody case. Both parents have to put in the time to create a schedule that will work for their situation. Once the visitation is all figured out then things run a lot smoother.
Parents have a lot of flexibility concerning child visitation. They can create any type of arrangement that works for them. The first thing to do when making a custody and visitation schedule is to decide the type of custody that you want for your situation. Parents can have joint custody, which means they will both spend about the same amount of time with the children. You can also have a sole custody agreement, where the children mainly live with one parent and visit the other one.
The type of custody you choose will determine how you set up your visitation. The next thing to do is to set up a little schedule--about a few weeks--where you outline the custody and visitation schedule. This few week schedule then becomes the basis for your custody calendar and you apply it over and over again through the year. This is called the repeating or rotating cycle.
There are a number of ways to set up your repeating cycle. For sole custody, you can set up where the children spent the week with the custodial parent and weekends with the other parent. Or, you can set it up so the children visit the non custodial parent once or twice a week and then every other weekend.
In a joint custody plan, the parents can alternate custody every week, every two weeks, or every month. If you choose a longer period, like the two weeks or month, of custody you can schedule in some visits to the other parent. You can also have the children spend time with one parent for half the week and the other parent for the other half.
Another part of child visitation is deciding where the child will spend holidays. Usually the parents divide the holidays between them--with both parents getting major and minor holidays. You can also include vacation time with each parent in your visitation schedule.
Child visitation is one of the biggest and most important issues in a custody case. Both parents have to put in the time to create a schedule that will work for their situation. Once the visitation is all figured out then things run a lot smoother.
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