Legal Question in Family Law in California
My court order states, "father to have option of having child 2 additonal overnights each spring and winter break as arranged by parents. Parents are to agree that these days are not to be attached to fathers regular scheduled weekend." If I start my time at 1:00Pm on a Wednesday does it end at 8:00AM on Friday or 1:00PM? Are additional days/overnights based on a 24 hour period of time?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Not necessarily. Rather you have a vague order because the Court presumes the two parents will be cooperating and agree without needing to specifying all the details of when days and overnight visits start and end. Thus whatever you two agree with here is what you can do. If it becomes unworkable you may have to go back to court for an order regarding all the specifics.
Note I write agreements where "overnight" is either around the school schedule or when there are breaks for as much time as possible for noncustodial parents. For instance for school overnight between 5pm till 8am next day and during a spring/winter break I usually say something like from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. is "overnight" visitation as there is no school to return to the next day and at 8pm it is short of it becoming another "overnight" stay.
I often see a custodial parent abuse the vagueness to threaten fathers. If the mother becomes an obstructionist with visitation and is being unreasonable don't hesitate for a moment to return to court for a more specific order and to work out the details in mediation with a lawyer present.