Occasionally we get questions from clients regarding how possession works for the Thanksgiving holiday break. Many parents have what is commonly referred to as “standard holiday possession” language in their court orders. For Thanksgiving, that standard language reads as follows:
“In even-numbered years, Parent A shall have the right to possession of the children beginning at the time the child’s school is dismissed for the Thanksgiving holiday and ending at 6:00 P.M. on the Sunday following Thanksgiving.”
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, maybe not.
Sometimes parents argue over what that standard language means when it comes to the actual start date of the Thanksgiving holiday possession. Most parents believe that, on the day a child is released from the last day of school before Thanksgiving, that begins the holiday possession for Thanksgiving. Let’s look at the Frisco ISD school calendar to show you an example.
This year in Frisco ISD, the last day the children are in school prior to Thanksgiving is Friday, November 20, 2020. Therefore, one would logically believe that, based on the standard holiday language cited above, Parent A’s Thanksgiving possession would begin at the time the child’s school is dismissed on Friday, November 20, 2020 and would end on Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. (the Sunday following Thanksgiving).
However, we have had a few instances where the other parent, Parent B in this example, argued that Parent A’s Thanksgiving day possession did not begin until Wednesday, November 25, 2020, as the Frisco ISD school calendar specifically noted that Monday and Tuesday (November 23 & 24, 2020) were actually “Staff Development” days and the “Holiday” possession did not begin until Wednesday, November 25, 2020. If you look at the calendar above, you will see the distinction between which days are noted as “Staff Development” and which days are noted as “Holiday”.
Because of that distinction, we have actually had to argue this in court before when two parents could not agree on the interpretation of the holiday possession language in their order. We represented Parent A in the above example and thus, our position was our client was entitled to Thanksgiving possession beginning on Friday, November 20, 2020. At court, the attorney for Parent B argued that since Monday and Tuesday (November 23 & 24, 2020) were actually “Staff Development” days and not “Holiday” days per the school calendar, that Parent B was entitled to possession from Friday, November 20, 2020 until Wednesday, November 25, 2020.
One argument we made, which helped the judge rule in our favor, was that the standard holiday language states Thanksgiving day possession begins “at the time the child’s school is dismissed for the Thanksgiving holiday” and thus, the day the child was dismissed from school was actually on Friday, November 20, 2020 and not on Wednesday, November 25, 2020.
I’ve spoken with a few other attorney and judges about this issue and the general consensus is that Thanksgiving possession starts when the child is released from school prior to the holiday, regardless of how the school calendar defines the days leading up to the actual holiday.
If you have questions about your holiday possession schedule, give us a call to discuss your legal rights and options.
Written by Dana J. Stewart
