Child Visitation Schedules
Nevada law grants a parent, married or not, a reasonable amount of time to spend with their children. The public policy is to allow parents to maintain a parent-child relationship. What is considered a reasonable amount of time tends to change based on individual circumstances and individual state rules. In Nevada, you can set a child visitation schedule with the court to hold both parents accountable to it. It’s helpful to enlist the expertise of a family law attorney to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Mature, forgiving ex-spouses, who don’t carry the memory of lost years around with them like beloved yet badly battered vintage Birkin bags, can create their own child visitation schedule. The rest of us have the courts.
There are several fairly common child visitation schedules. Both people who need the courts and amicable parents use these most of the time.
Joint Custody Visitation Schedules
The 60/40 child visitation schedule is often considered a “joint” or “shared” custody schedule, because both parents have frequent and significant contact with their children. This schedule works well when both parents want substantial time with their children. It also works well for parents who can communicate without problems (injuries, insults, incarceration) about their visitation schedule. Parents who live fairly close to one another can create a schedule with which their kids are comfortable.
Many judges and psychologists feel it’s important for children to be a part of both parents’ lives. The 60/40 schedule allows a child to spend enough time with each parent to cultivate a close relationship. Typical 60/40 child visitation schedules include the child spending three days each week with one parent and four days a week with the other, or the child spending the weekdays with one parent and the weekends, plus Friday night, with the other.
If you don’t think a joint custody situation would work for you, you will need to show the courts why, especially if the other parent lives nearby. A family law attorney can help you create a good argument for getting primary custody.
Primary Visitation Schedules
The 70/30 or 80/20 child visitation schedule works best when parents don’t live near each other, when a child does better with one consistent home base or when one parent is often out of town. It’s a good alternative for families that, for any reason, just can’t make the 60/40 work.
Typical 70/30 schedules is a parent having the children during the weekdays and the other parent having weekends. You can exchange every other weekend for a couple of weekdays.
The main thing to remember with the 70/30 child visitation schedule is that one of you is definitely going to be spending a lot more time with your child than the other. To become more involved in the child’s life, the 30 percent parent can add overnight visits, some holidays and summer time to the schedule. Phone calls, texting and online chatting are also a really good way to stay involved, up-to-date and connected for those of you who can only be hands-on parents about 30 percent of the time.
Holidays, Birthdays, and Summer Breaks
All visitation schedules should include the specifics. Don’t leave holidays, special occasions, birthdays, and school breaks up in the air. A lot of divorced parents take turns with special holidays and events in order to be fair, both to one another and their children. For example, if your child spends Christmas with your ex one year, you get that holiday the next year. Many courts will grant extended visitation during the summer when the parent without primary custody lives in another state or country.
Traveling When One Parent Lives Out of State
Sometimes the court will ask parents to share the travel expenses for out-of-state summer visits. If these financial details were not outlined in your original divorce decree, and are becoming a problem, you can always ask the court for clarification to clear up who should be covering the costs, or how they should be divided. It’s also important for parents to decide if their child needs travel supervision or can make the trip alone. Children five years of age may fly without adults, but are provided with an airline escort. Regardless of what the airlines permit, you know your kids best; if you don’t think your little one is ready for his or her first solo flight, make other arrangements.
Travel notwithstanding, long summer breaks can be tough on both the parent with custody and the children involved. If your kids are visiting your ex for the summer, plan out a reliable communication schedule with your children. Set aside days and times for you to contact each other and stay in touch. Decide whether it would be best for your child to talk over the phone or use a video call service like Skype. A scheduled end-of-day chat will help young kids fend off homesickness and help you shake any anxiety you might be feeling about being away from your babies (whatever their ages) for such a long-seeming period of time.
Supervised Visitation and Suspended Visitation
Sometimes a parent’s behavior can raise some very real concerns. If you worry about the safety of your child during visits with your ex, you are not powerless. There are a variety of circumstances under which a judge can order that visitation be supervised. Among those are past instances of domestic violence, drug use, incarceration, mental illness, or past abandonment. With supervised visitation, a third party is present to watch over all visits between the child and the non-custodial parent. Those visits will take place either at a local agency or in the child’s own home.
If you believe that visitation with your co-parent will put your child at risk, you can request a court hearing. This will involve going before a judge and asking for an order restricting supervised visitation. In order to get that restriction, however, you absolutely must be able to convince the judge that your ex poses a real emotional or physical danger to your child. In a situation like this, involving a family law attorney is a good idea.
Though child visitation rights are generally granted, they are not guaranteed. They are a privilege. Supervised visitation is just the tip of the iceberg in cases where there is a risk of child endangerment. Under certain circumstances, the court can also suspended or completely deny all visitation. Neglect, child abuse or a parent’s severe mental illness are all factors that can put a stop to child visitation. However, as mentioned before, judges only order these restrictions when there is solid evidence that the non-custodial parent is a physical or emotional threat to the child’s well-being.
Requests to Modify Child Visitation
If parents could pull visitation rights every time they were angry with their exes, the family courts would be snowed under. More children of divorce (not to mention their parents) would likely end up emotional basket cases. Child visitation orders can be modified. However, the court needs to be certain that the modification is in the best interest of the child. So, if you are seeking changes to a current visitation arrangement, be sure you can prove your modifications really will improve things for your child.
A few common reasons for seeking changes in child visitation include:
- Changes in the work schedule of the non-custodial parent
- The relocation of either parent
- The preference of the child if they are of a certain age
An experienced family law attorney can be a big help when it comes to putting together the details supporting your child visitation modification request. The court wants, above all else, a child visitation schedule that is a good fit for your child; the way you and your ex feel about one another may not factor into that at all.
A good child visitation schedule helps your child feel loved, secure, and cared for. Therefore it’s important to work amicably with your ex, regardless of past problems, if or when you need child visitation modification. Even if you currently have a great relationship with your ex, don’t be careless. The court should approve any changes to visitation. If they aren’t, you are risking future regrets. As a divorced parent, you already know that feelings can change. With court-ordered child visitation in place, a refusal to comply with the schedule won’t be an option if the non-custodial parent suddenly decides to be difficult.
At the End of the Day…
There are so many factors to consider when deciding on your child visitation schedule. As you weigh all of the different options, think of what will be the very best for your child emotionally, physically, and mentally. This is more important than thinking about convenience, ease, or your own comfort. Work as closely as you can with your ex, in as civil a fashion possible, to ensure fairness. Your ex may never be your favorite person in the world, but both of you are hugely important to your child. And, as a good parent, that fact should be hugely important to you.
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