Sample Custody Visitation Plans

In any case where child custody must be determined, the parents will need to agree to a visitation schedule. If the parents cannot agree to a visitation arrangement, the case will go to Superior Court and be decided by a judge. Below is a table of common or standard visitation plans. These visitation arrangements are common in Georgia and have been used for many years by judges throughout Georgia. However, please be advised that you are not locked into one of these plans. If necessary, your child custody/visitation lawyer will assist you in crafting a custom one that best fits you and your family's needs.

For all cases involving minor children, Georgia law requires the parents, either individually or jointly, to prepare and submit a Parenting Plan which details each parent's visitation schedule with the child throughout the year. The two major categories of visitation schedules concern (A) regular "Weekend and Weekday" visitation and (B) "Major Holiday and Vacation Periods." Georgia statute 19-9-1(b)(2) specifically requires each Parenting Plan to detail:

• (A) Where and when a child will be in each parent's physical care, designating where the child will spend each day of the year;
• (B) How holidays, birthdays, vacations, school breaks, and other special occasions will be spent with each parent including the time of day that each event will begin and end.

In many cases, the parents prefer to discuss and agree to the specifics of their visitation schedules for their children, taking into account many factors such as 1) each parent's employment schedule, 2) each child's school calendar and the start/end times for their school day, 3) each child's extracurricular activities and summer camps, 4) available means of transportation, traffic, or other scheduling conflicts, and any other details which may affect when each parent will be available to exchange custody of the children. You and your coparent may occasionally agree to deviate from the specific schedules in the Parenting Plan as appropriate for your family, and the following information is intended to help you develop the visitation schedules that best supports your minor children.

The regular "Weekend and Weekday" parenting time schedule details each parent's right to parenting time during all weekends and weekdays of the year, except for major holiday periods (explained in "Major Holiday and Vacation Period Schedules" below). For school-age children, the schedule will typically detail who has custody of the child on Monday-Friday as well as Saturday-Sunday, and the start and end times for weekday visitation often depend on when the child starts their school day in the morning and when the child is released from school in the afternoon. For children who have not yet enrolled in Kindergarten, the parents may instead detail the start and end times depending on the schedules of their daycare or childcare provider, or for children who may be homeschooled, the parents may instead detail the start and end times depending on when the child has completed all lessons and assignments for the day.

Some examples of common visitation schedules include the standard/traditional schedule (e.g. every-other-weekend from Friday to Sunday), the extended standard/traditional schedule (e.g. every-other-weekend from Thursday to Sunday or Friday to Monday), weekly visitation schedule (e.g. alternating week on/week off), and the 2/2/5 schedule (e.g. 2 days on, 2 days off, alternating every other weekend). Each of these schedules can be visualized in the interactive visitation chart above.

It is important to note that you and your coparent may agree to a schedule that deviates from the common arrangements above, so long as your regular Weekend and Weekday parenting time schedule meets the legal standard of the "best interests of the child."

The "Major Holiday and Vacation Periods" parenting time schedule details each parent's right to visitation during all holiday and vacation periods of the year, which are typically defined for school-age children according to the calendar of the school each child is enrolled in. If your child is not currently enrolled in school, many parents will instead use the calendar of the public school district where the primary physical custodian resides or use the calendar provided by their daycare or childcare provider or their homeschooling program.

The benefit of using the calendar provided by your child's school (or daycare or homeschooling program) is that it the calendar updated each school year and does not rely on specific dates for each holiday, which could change year-to-year. The most common way to divide holiday and vacation periods is to alternate which parent has the children for each break in even and odd-numbered years so that each parent has an equal amount of holiday visitation with the child. Many parents prefer to ensure the holiday breaks are alternated in such a way that no parent has back-to-back holiday periods.

An example of a standard Major Holiday and Vacation Period schedule can be visualized below:

• Spring Break Vacation - The Spring Break parenting time shall begin on the date and time of school's dismissal for the break and shall continue until drop off at school on the date that school is scheduled to resume. Mother shall have the Spring Break in all odd-numbered years and Father shall have the Spring Break in all even-numbered years.
• Mother's/Father's Day - Mother shall have parenting time with the minor children on Mother's Day from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Father shall have parenting time with the minor children on Father's Day from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
• Summer Break - Summer Break shall begin on the first Friday after school's dismissal for the break and shall end on the Friday prior to the new school year beginning. The parents shall continue to follow the regular Weekend and Weekday parenting time schedule throughout the summer, except as detailed herein.