In our society and culture, the upcoming winter holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and others – are often advertised as the perfect time to gather up your family and enjoy time spent together. It does not really address, however, the needs of people who have been through a divorce or separation. Spending time with your family can be difficult in such a situation, to say the least, especially when children and child custody disputes are afoot.
Is there a simple way for you to set your differences aside, just for the holidays, and allow each parent time to spend with their children?
Special Days with Special Guidelines
The laws and legislation in Maine seem to recognize the importance of family during the winter season from the perspective of a child. To this end, you may request special holiday visitation hours or days that go outside the normal duration or schedule of your visitation agreement created during your divorce. For example, Christmas in 2015 falls on a Friday but your visitation agreement allows you to see your child Sunday through Wednesday; you can ask permission to see your child on that one particular Friday.
In an ideal situation, you and your ex-spouse can come to an agreement together. Nothing has to be official in this regard if you both are comfortable with holiday visitations. Should you hit a speedbump or hurdle that is keeping you from agreeing, you will need to take your proposed plan to court. This does not necessarily mean that you need to request a modification to the court’s original orders; you are merely trying to set up visitations under a special set of circumstances. With that said, however, your request might only be resolved through official modifications.
If you have concerns that you may not be able to see your children this holiday season due to visitation agreements already in place, contact Goldblatt, Marquette & Rashba, PC today. Our Hamden divorce attorneys are committed to finding amicable solutions for all of our clients’ family law needs, wherever in Connecticut they may live. Call 203.687.4050 for more information.