The holidays can be stressful.  We have relatives and friends coming for Thanksgiving dinner.  So we have been shopping and cleaning and cooking to get ready for the big event.

But some of my clients have to add to that the stress of child visitation disputes and lawyers and courts.  It makes me realize how important it is to be clear in drafting visitation schedules for co-parenting plans.  You can’t just say the parties will alternate holidays.  You have to spell it out in some detail:

“The parties will alternate Thanksgiving Day every year.  In 2012 and every even numbered year after that, the children will spend Thanksgiving Day with the mother.  In 2013 and every odd numbered year after that, the children will spend Thanksgiving Day with their father.”

Or you can split the day with the children having lunch at one house and dinner at the other house, alternating each year.  But set forth detailed pickup times and places.