After a divorce, the holidays will take on a different attitude and demeanor than in the past. Doubtless your family has already mentioned the plan for the holidays, and you will have to come up with a schedule which will serve everyone week. For families that are divorce or are in the process of receiving a divorce decree, the holidays can seem overwhelmed. It is important to plan far in advanced so that the children can be fully briefed on where they will spending each of the upcoming holidays and how to enjoy the time with each person.

It is best to split the holiday time between parents, especially if the couple intends to have joint custody. For example, if you have the children for Thanksgiving, then your ex may have the children for Christmas Day. You can then have the children again for New Years' Day and your ex may be permitted to care for the kids during Easter when spring of next year rolls around.

To plan for the upcoming holidays, it can be helpful to grab a cup of coffee or share a lunch with your ex. You will be able to hash out all the different details involved with holidays including who will buy presents. It is important to establish a financial amount that will be spent by both parents so that children get equal amounts of presents from each parent. Some parents can use gifts as a way to bribe the children or to favor them, and this is often unfair and difficult for children to handle.

It is also important for both ex-spouses to talk with their extended family and determine who is going to be in town or who will be having a family visit throughout the holiday season. Then you can consider the extended family's plans and determine whether or not you should take the children during the times that the family is here. In these situations you also may have to take grandparent's rights into account, as grandparents will naturally want to see their grandchild during the holiday season. You will want to ensure that you consider who had the children during last Thanksgiving and the Christmas season as well so that you can rotate if this is at all possible.

There are a few different ways that you may be able to split up time for the holidays. One common solution is for one parent to take care of the children from their last day of the fall semester of school until the 26^th of December. The other parent will then care for the children until they go back to school for the spring session. The next year you can rotate the times so that every second year you either have Christmas time or the time after Christmas.

Another option is to share holidays around Christmas. One parent may take the children for Christmas even until half-way through Christmas day, and then the other parent will take the children from the second-half of Christmas as well as the day after. Many parents find it valuable to have the children on their actual holidays, so this can be very valuable.

Another choice that parents can often resolve to is splitting the holiday season into three segments such as the first part of the holiday with one parent, and then splitting the Christmas day as well. This way both parents get to spend time with the children on Christmas Day and still get extended time with the children throughout the rest of the year. If you want more information about holiday time or if you are battling a custody issue, find a family lawyer near you to help you with your case today!