Mar 28, 2020
Don’t Forget! Designate your summer possession schedule by April 1st!
April 1 st is a significant day for parents who share custody of their children. In the standard possession order and even most custom possession orders, April 1 st is the deadline for the non-primary parent to designate the dates for which they will have possession of their child over the summer break.
There may be some restrictions on the dates you can choose. For example, the order may state that possession cannot start earlier than the day after the child’s school is released for summer break. Or your order may state that your dates cannot end later than seven days before the child’s school resumes.
Please know that as of now the courts expect that you will use the dates school would normally let out for summer and the date school would normally start back up in the fall. Corona Virus (COVID-19) does not change your order.
Particularly this year it may be important to designate your requested summer possession dates since your schedule, the other parent’s schedule and your child’s schedule have been disrupted.
In addition, the final decree or order in your SAPCR (Suit Affecting Parent-Child Relationship) can specify that your summer possession must be exercised in no more than two separate period of at least seven consecutive days.
April 15 th is another significant date because the standard possession order allows the primary parent to designate a weekend for which they will have possession of the child during the other conservators extended summer possession. This notice must also be in writing and there may also be restrictions on the weekend that may be chosen such as that it cannot interfere with either parent’s Father’s Day possession.
Please review your final order or temporary order carefully to see if any of these dates apply to you. Make sure you provide notice prior to the date listed in your order and in the manner the order states. If you choose to do nothing, the summer possession dates most often default to begin on July 1 and end on July 31.
If you have any questions regarding your summer possession schedule or how to provide notice to the other parent conservator of your requested summer possession dates, please contact us at (817) 336-8500.
Bob Leonard Law Group, PLLC
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