3 Ways to Schedule Custody Time Fairly (2024)

Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving weekend is the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Because Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend are times when both parents want to be with the child, you want to make fair arrangements for this holiday in your holiday schedule.

Here are some examples of how to divide and share the Thanksgiving holiday.

Give one parent Thanksgiving and the other parent the weekend

You can divide Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving weekend so one parent has the child on Thanksgiving Day and the other parent has the child for the weekend.

Here the mother has Thanksgiving Day from Wednesday afternoon until 6 p.m. Thursday. The father has the weekend from 6 p.m. Thursday until Monday at 9 a.m.

Here the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is included with the holiday. The father has Thanksgiving Day from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday at 6 p.m., and the mother has the weekend from 6 p.m. Thursday until Monday morning at 9.

Here the mother has Thanksgiving Day from 9 a.m. Wednesday until 9 a.m Friday. The father has the weekend from 9 a.m. Friday until 9 a.m. Monday.

After you determine the holiday time, you can decide how to schedule the holiday every year. The parents can alternate between having Thanksgiving Day and the weekend, one parent can always have Thanksgiving Day and the other parent can always have the weekend, or you can make new arrangements every year.

This arrangement works best when parents live fairly close to each other. It also works well with various types of work schedules.

Split Thanksgiving and the weekend

You can give both parents time with the child on Thanksgiving and give both parents part of Thanksgiving weekend.

Here the father has from 12 p.m. Wednesday until 3 p.m. Thursday. The mother has from 3 p.m. Thursday until 3 p.m. Saturday. The father then has 3 p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Monday.

Here the mother has from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 2 p.m. Thursday. The father has from 2 p.m. Thursday until 9 a.m. Sunday. The mother then has 9 a.m. Sunday until 9 a.m. Monday.

After you determine how to divide the holiday, you can decide how to schedule the holiday every year. You can alternate the times with the other parent, you can keep the same arrangements every year, or you can make new arrangements every year.

There are a lot of exchanges with this arrangement, which means extra planning and travel time. If parents don't live very close to each other, the child may spend a lot of the holiday traveling.

Alternate the holiday

You can combine Thanksgiving Day and the weekend into one holiday block and give one parent the holiday in odd years and the other parent the holiday in even years.

Here Thanksgiving is scheduled from 3 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Sunday. The father has Thanksgiving in even years, and the mother has it in odd years.

This arrangement works well for parents who live far away from each other. A child can even fly to a different state for the Thanksgiving holiday.

When one parent has Thanksgiving Day and the weekend, the other parent can have a long time for Christmas to keep the holiday time equal. As you make your holiday schedule, you can use a visitation timeshare calculator to give each parent about the same amount of holiday time.

The easiest way to make a Thanksgiving schedule

There's a lot to think about when you build a Thanksgiving schedule. You'll want it to give the right amount of time to each parent and work for years to come.

The Custody X Change app makes it easy. Just follow our steps to make a holiday schedule.

If you celebrate in Canada, be sure to select the Canadian holiday list in Step 1.

To make a custody schedule quickly and affordably, turn to Custody X Change. You'll get written and visual versions that meet your family's needs, as well as court standards.