Legal Ease by Shane Givens
Aug. 31, 2011

The new 'standard visitation'

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This is the first year of service for Jeremy Taylor, the newest circuit judge for the Cherokee/DeKalb County Circuit (9th Circuit). Judge Taylor rules over domestic relations cases such as divorces and divorce modifications. One of the areas Judge Taylor has worked to change is the “standard” visitation for non-custodial parents in divorce and domestic relations cases.

Commonly, standard visitation has meant every other weekend, from Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m., plus three weeks in the summer and certain split holidays, except where the parents live great distances apart. However, as Judge Taylor explains in his standard visitation order, “the Court firmly believes that the parent who does not reside with the child(ren) should have, and exercise, liberal visitation rights.”

Accordingly, Judge Taylor's new standard provides much more visitation to the non-custodial parent. Under his new schedule, the non-custodial parent still visits every other weekend, but the visitation is expanded from 6 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. the following Monday, allowing the non-custodial parent can take the children to school, or day care, or return the child to the other parent. Additionally, in the event that a “major Monday holiday" (defined below) falls on the following Monday, and it is the non-custodial parent's year to exercise such holiday, the weekend visit shall extend until 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The non-custodial parent also enjoys visitation on the Thursday following the weekend during which the non-custodial parent exercised visitation from 3 p.m. until 8 a.m. the next morning, when the non-custodial parent shall take the child(ren) to school, or day care, or return to the other parent. The non-custodial parent also receives the Tuesday of each off-week from 3 p.m. until 8 a.m. the next morning. The non-custodial parent still spends every other spring break with the child(ren), but is given extra time during the summer. Under the new standard visitation order, the non-custodial parent receives 14 consecutive days of visitation during the month of June, and 14 consecutive days of visitation during the month of July.

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day and Father's Day are treated as they have always been, along with the parents' splitting time during the child(ren)'s birthday; however, Judge Taylor's new order allows for several more holidays to be shared between the parents. In fact, Easter, Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, President's Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day are all split between the parents.

This visitation schedule is applicable for those parents who live up to 150 miles from each other. For parents who live outside that range a different visitation schedule applies. 

This column is intended for general information purposes only. The answers to most legal problems rely on specific facts of a particular situation; therefore, it is very important to see a lawyer when these situations arise. 

Please e-mail questions for future columns to givenslaw@tds.net.