Christmas 2018 Utah Parent Visitation Schedule: How To Reduce Conflict with Your Ex

When it comes to divorced parent visitation, there are holidays and then there are holidays.

Pioneer day is a holiday. It’s kind of cool, but it’s usually not a huge deal for Utah divorced families.

No one fights about Pioneer Day visitation.

Christmas is a holiday. Christmas is incredibly important for most Utah families because it’s a major religious holiday and because it’s so closely tied to visiting extended family.

Divorce parents will fight about Christmas visitation.

The point of this post is to help families not fight about Christmas visitation.

Here are a few suggestions about how to reduce conflict:

  1. Know the 2017 Utah Christmas visitation schedule.

The Utah law governing 99% of divorce decrees and Christmas visitation is Utah Code, Section 30-3-5. Here are the relevant parts of 30-3-35:

(f) In years ending in an odd number, the noncustodial parent is entitled to the following holidays:

. . .

(viii) the first portion of the Christmas school vacation as defined in Subsection 30-3-32(3)(b) including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, continuing until 1 p.m. on the day halfway through the holiday period, if there are an odd number of days for the holiday period, or until 7 p.m. if there are an even number of days for the holiday period, so long as the entire holiday period is equally divided.

. . .

(g) In years ending in an even number, the noncustodial parent is entitled to the following holidays:

. . .

(viii) the second portion of the Christmas school vacation as defined in Subsection 30-3-32(3)(b), beginning 1 p.m. on the day halfway through the holiday period, if there are an odd number of days for the holiday period, or at 7 p.m. if there are an even number of days for the holiday period, so long as the entire Christmas holiday period is equally divided.

With this in mind, get out your child’s school schedule and determine where he or she will be during the Christmas break.

If your child is too young for school, look at the calendar in your neighborhood school to determine how Christmas vacation will be divided.

  1. Communicate with your ex about the Christmas visitation schedule.

Once you figure out the schedule, communicate with your ex about visitation.

Honestly, it’s probably a better idea to talk to sit down with your ex and go over the school calendar together. That way you both are on the same page about things in real time.

And please, make sure you plan well enough that your child can get a good night’s rest before he or she returns to school the next day.

  1. Communicate with your ex about Christmas travel plans.

If you and your ex live in different states, once you’ve figured out the days where your child will be, you need to communicate about travel arrangements.

Talk through buying plane tickets. Times. Prices. Logistics.

If you’re both part of the planning process, you’ll have a much lower chance of experiencing significant conflict.

  1. Know who pays which travel costs.

Your divorce decree will tell you (or, for the love of heaven, should tell you) how Christmas travel costs will be split.

Sometimes, things are split 50/50. Sometimes, one person picks up 100% of the costs.

Know who owes what before you buy ticket and make arrangements.

If you share 50/50 costs, work together to minimize costs. Almost nothing creates more conflicts than one ex incurring travel costs without the ex’s consent.

Call Brown Family Law

If you find yourself facing a Utah divorce, please call 801.685.9999 for an in-person consultation, or use our online scheduling tool.

Protect Your Money And Your Family

We remove fear associated with divorce, protect your money & maximize time with your kids!

We're here to help. Let's determine your best options.

Call Us 24//7 at 801-685-9999 to Speak with a Live Representative

Utah Divorce FAQs
Top 100 Divorce Blog
What Clients Are Saying…
Brown Family Law
Excellent
4.8
Based on 810 reviews
Lei was something special. She was very understanding of our situation and her advice and listening ear made our decision and path forward clear. Thank you!
Response from the owner: Adam, you're welcome, and thank you.
I just got off the phone with Kent and feel very confident in him and the help he has already provided in my case. He listened to and addressed my concerns with kindness and understanding and left me feeling like I'm not just another case, that he really is here to help me.
Response from the owner: So glad Kent has already started helping you, Wendy.
Andrew did a great on my case. Communication was consistent, to the point and he kept me well informed. I also had the pleasure working with Clay. Top notch firm, very confident, and I would highly recommend them if you want to win. Thanks again team ~D
Response from the owner: Dan, thank you, and glad Andrew helped you so well.
Lei the office manager helped tremendously with all hiccups that we ran into and was very responsive and knowledgeable! She is a Rockstar and makes Brown Family Law worthy of 5 stars
Response from the owner: Thank you.
Sierra was so helpful right from the moment she answered our call. She gave all her support and resources and made sure to ask if we needed anything else before moving forward. Thank you so much!
Response from the owner: Thank you, Mel. Glad Sierra was able to help.
I would hands down suggest Brown Family Law. Nathaniel helped me with my divorce, and he was very knowlegeable and knows his stuff. He helped me file a motion, get somethings changed in the original decree, helped me understand the terms they use, helped me understand how child support is calculated along is all the financial aspects associated with divorce case. He also is very responsive to phone calls and emails which was very helpful whenever I had small questions. Thank you Nathaniel!
Response from the owner: Andrew, thank you for your kind words.
I can’t say enough good things about Brown Family Law, but more specifically, my lawyer David Handy and his paralegal Dani. They are kind and honest and always available to me when I’ve needed them! This is such an exhausting time and they alleviated all of my stress by taking control. I could trust the process knowing I was in great hands!!! The entire law firm works as a team to take care of you! I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you!!!
Response from the owner: Ryan, so glad David and Dani served you so well and alleviated your stress.
They handled my case with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity and made every effort to be efficient and transparent with me throughout the whole process. I was told that they were the best as far as family law is concerned and I believe that praise was fully justified.
Response from the owner: Ben, thank you.
Amber McFee is always professional and great to work with. Being opposing counsel by nature is adversarial, but Amber is professional in approach while effectively advocating for her clients. She will treat you right!
Response from the owner: Thank you, Jonathan.
Overall from start to finish the best experience to have dealing with a time that is difficult.Andrew Christensen is very professional and out going to make this situation the best it could be and worked hard to make sure the divorce was fair for me.Over all, this firm really cares and treats you as a family or friend and just not a client, down to Marco Brown taking time to see how I was doing and offer to help in any way possible during my divorce while I was there for my first initial meeting.I would highly recommend anyone that has to go through a divorce to really reach out to the Brown Family Law firm and see for your self the experience I was able to receive from a top notch law firm.
Response from the owner: Devin, thank you for the kind words. Andrew appreciated the opportunity to help you with your situation.
js_loader

Categories