After your North Carolina divorce, one of the most important issues to cover is child custody and visitation. Do you ever wonder what an appropriate visitation schedule looks like? It can help to know the standards behind visitation schedules before modeling your own for approval.
Very Well Family explains that visitation accounts for 20% of the parenting time. This time does not include the time spent at day care or in school. There are a few common visitation schedules. These schedules include:
- Every other weekend
- One weeknight per week
- Extended summer visits
- Some birthdays and holidays
To establish a fair visitation schedule, you need to consider what works best for the entire family. If your children are young, then they will need a consistent routine to rely on. You may want to begin with a modest schedule and then build it. You may begin with every other weekend and one evening visit per week and then transition to an overnight visit.
Keep in mind that 20% is only the starting point. Many families arrange for the parent to have more time with the child. This means that you may have longer weekday visits or extended summer vacations. If you live in the same state as the other parent, this can make it easier. The closer that the two of you live, the easier it is to arrange visitation to occur often.
As with anything, you do need to keep your mind open to emergencies. Remember to give your former partner flexibility when it comes to emergencies that interfere with visitation.
The above article is not considered legal advice. It is for informational purposes only.
