Summer Visitation in a Nutshell

For those who have possession and access under the Texas Standard Possession Order, making sense of the Summer visitation provisions can be quite the task. Hopefully this helps! Keep in mind that parents are always free to work out visitation by agreement. Whatever works for you is fine! The order is only in place for those times when you can't agree.


For parents who reside WITHIN 100 miles of each other:

1. If the non-custodial parent (NCP - the parent who does not have primary custody) gives the custodial parent (CP - the parent who has primary custody) WRITTEN notice by April 1, the NCP can choose to exercise his/her summer visitation in two separate periods of at least 7 days each. For example, 15 days in June and 15 days in July. Another example is 20 days in July and 10 days in August. It's really up to them. For those who choose to extend their visitation into the month of August, be advised that your visitation period must END 7 days before your child goes back to school. That means, if school starts on August 25, your August visitation must end by August 18.

2. If the NCP does NOT give WRITTEN notice by April 1, the NCP shall have summer visitation for 30 consecutive days beginning at 6:00 pm on July 1 and ending at 6:00 pm on July 31. Yes, that is a very long time. If the CP wants to see the child(ren) during this time, he/she must either give the NCP written notice by April 15 specifying a particular weekend that they want to have the child(ren) or give them 14days notice after April 16. This mean, the CP can have the children for one weekend during the NCP's summer possession as long as it does not interfere with Father's Day and as long as they give proper notice.


For parents who reside MORE than 100 miles apart:

1. The same provisions above apply, except that instead of 30 days in the summer, it's 42 days. If the NCP does NOT give the CP notice by April 1, the NCP will have possession beginning at 6:00 pm on June 15 and ending at 6:00 pm on July 27.

Likewise, if the CP wants to see the child(ren) during these 42 days, he/she must either give the NCP written notice by April 15 specifying up to TWO particular weekends that they want to have the child(ren) or give them 14 days notice after April 16. This mean, the CP can have the children for TWO weekends during the NCP's summer possession as long as it does not interfere with Father's Day and as long as they give proper notice.

SUMMARY:

Parents residing WITHIN 100 miles of each other:

• The NCP gets 30 days in the summer
• If the NCP wants to divide the 30 days into two separate periods, he/she must give the CP written notice by April 1.
• Each separate period above must be at least 7 days.
• If the NCP does not give written notice by April 1, he/she will have visitation for 30 consecutive days from July 1 - July 31
• If the CP wants to see the child(ren) during the NCP's summer possession, the CP may designate one full weekend that they want the child(ren). This notice must be given by April 15, in writing. If notice is not given by April 15, the CP can still have their weekend with 14 days notice as long as it doesn't interfere with Father's Day.
• All required notices should be in writing!

Parents who reside OVER 100 miles apart:

• The NCP gets 42 days in the summer.
• If the NCP wants to divide the 42 days into two separate periods, he/she must give the CP written notice by April 1.
• Each separate period must be at least 7 days.
• If the NCP does not give written notice by April 1, he/she will have visitation from June 15 - July 27.
• The CP can designate up to TWO weekends to have the children during the NCP's summer visitation (as long as it doesn't interfere with Father's Day).
• Notice must be given to the NCP in writing by April 1. If the CP does not give notice by April 1, he/she can still exercise their two weekends, but they must give 14 days notice for each one.
• All required notices should be in writing.

Regardless of Distance:

Keep in mind that should the NCP choose to exercise visitation in August, it must end at least 7 days before school starts.