Wednesday Evening and Every Other Weekend

Child visitation schedules are very important to have when it comes to determining which parent has physical custody of a child at any given time. First you should familiarize yourself with the current family laws of the State of Maryland or contact an experienced family law attorney to determine your rights. The Maryland code, Court Rules and Case Laws are great places to start if you do not have an attorney.

The Maryland Court System does not have a preference for any specific parent or gender when making a determination on child custody. The Maryland Courts focus on the “best interests of the child standard” when making visitation and custody decisions.

The court takes into consideration many factors when determining custody and visitation arrangements such as the parents’ capacity to provide for the child, the living arrangements at the parent’s home and the parent’s ability to support the child.  The Maryland court will look at past instances of abuse or domestic violence in visitation and custody cases.  In some instances even grandparents and the children themselves can petition for visitation rights (See Post: Old Enough to Choose).

Creating a child visitation schedule can be hard to do during a time when emotions are high, especially during a divorce.  You don’t have to work with the other parent on coming up with a visitation schedule but it is in your child’s best interest to do so. Only the parents know the intricacies of their own schedules and an in-depth knowledge of their children’s needs.  It is best for the parents to make a determination without the courts when making a visitation schedule. Otherwise a judge (a complete stranger) will make these important decisions for the parents.

Setting aside your differences to create an effective visitation schedule is something that most parents do for the sake of their children. However, if you are unable to reconcile differences a court officer or mediator will make the decision for you based on the best interest of the child.  When making a visitation schedule try to think about all of the aspects of your child’s life from daily activities to special circumstances. If you make a schedule so that your child’s needs are met, then you will have a schedule that benefits your situation.

Even though Maryland doesn’t have a standard visitation schedule some counties have guidelines which can help you make a decision.  A common visitation schedule provides that the non-custodial parent who lives less than an hour away from the custodial parent can have the children every other weekend from 7 pm on Friday to 7 pm on Sunday.  Usually a visitation schedule will grant the non-custodial parent one evening during the week with the child as well. The residential visitation schedule should closely resemble the type of custody the parents have. The courts look at the current schedule of the parties to maintain the status quo.

In addition to the normal weekly visitation schedule parents should also consider holiday schedules and vacation schedules.

A holiday visitation schedule should include provisions for your child time to spend time with each of you on holidays and other special days. Many parents rotate the holidays, alternating them every year.  But for parents whose professions are in healthcare or retail, rotating holidays isn’t always an option as many of these parents often have to work on holidays or have limited time off during holidays.   Always create the holiday visitation schedule as you see fit, allow for exceptions and be flexible.

Remember other holidays and special days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, three day weekends such as Memorial and Labor Day, Fourth of July and any other special days you would like. Be sure to specify the times that the holiday visitation begins and ends in the schedule. The holiday schedule replaces the regular visitation schedule.

A visitation schedule should also permit your child to have extended time with each of you during school breaks and the parents’ personal vacation times. The vacation schedule can be less date specific, since the exact dates of personal vacation time may vary.  A work-at-home mom or a father who is a school teacher may have more flexibility in summer vacations than a parent who works in an office.  Visitation schedules can include instructions for out of state travel and guidelines for giving advanced notice to each parent about vacation times.

Lastly, you may want to create some rules that help you follow the visitation schedule.  For example how you’ll exchange the child for visitation, how you’ll make changes to the schedule, or how you’ll handle emergency events.  Basically, you just need to make sure that your custody schedule is in the best interest of the child. It is always best to work with an experienced divorce/family law attorney who can help you understand how custody, visitation, child support and other child related laws apply during your divorce.  With decades of experience in divorce law Maslan, Maslan & Rothwell can help you personalize a visitation schedule that works best for your situation.