Splitting the holidays

Arizona’s guide gives the only official taxonomy of these we found: divide the day, alternate the years, substitute a different day, or leave the holiday alone and follow the regular schedule. Once you can name the four, you can read your own order.

• Washington. Washington’s mandatory statewide parenting plan offers alternating odd/even years as the first option under every single named holiday and school break on the form.

  “Odd years with (name): _______; Even years with the other parent.”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R: Parenting Time Schedule, section 3 (Holiday Schedule) · source

• Washington. The same Washington form offers fixed assignment – one parent always gets that holiday – as a checkbox alternative to alternating, listed under each holiday.

  “Every year with (name):”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 3 · source

• Washington. Washington splits a single break into halves by tying each half to the parent’s existing weekend, with a fixed midweek handover. The form offers this for Mid-winter Break and Spring Break.

  “Each parent has the children for the half of break attached to their weekend. The children must be exchanged on Wednesday at (time):”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 3 (Mid-winter Break; Spring Break) · source

• Washington. Washington also offers a residual rule for anything unnamed: unspecified holidays and non-school days follow whoever has the attached weekend, rather than being separately allocated.

  “The children shall spend any unspecified holiday or non-school day with the parent who has them for the attached weekend.”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 3 (All three-day weekends not listed elsewhere) · source

• Indiana. Indiana’s statewide guidelines do not ask parents to allocate holidays one at a time. They pre-sort holidays into two fixed blocks, and the whole block alternates by year – so a parent gets Thanksgiving in even years as part of a package that also includes MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day.

  “The following holidays shall be exercised by the noncustodial parent in even numbered years and the custodial parent in odd numbered years: [1] Martin Luther King Day. If observed by the child’s school, from Friday at 6:00 P.M. until Monday at 6:00 P.M. [2] Presidents’ Day. If observed by the child’s school, from Friday at 6:00 P.M. until Monday at 6:00 P.M. [3] Memorial Day. From Friday at 6:00 P.M. until Monday at 6:00 P.M. [4] Labor Day. From Friday at 6:00 P.M. until Monday at 6:00 P.M. [5] Thanksgiving. From 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday until 6:00 P.M. on Sunday.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.C (Holidays) · source

• Indiana. Indiana’s second holiday block – the one that alternates the opposite way from Thanksgiving – carries Spring Break, Easter, Fourth of July, Fall Break and Halloween. This is the pairing that catches people: in Indiana, whoever has Thanksgiving in a given year does not have that year’s Spring Break.

  “The following holidays shall be exercised by the noncustodial parent in odd numbered years and the custodial parent in even numbered years: [1] Spring Break. From 6:00 P.M. the day the child is released from school on the child’s last day of school before Spring Break, and ending 6:00 P.M. on the last day before school begins again. [2] Easter. From Friday at 6:00 P.M. until Sunday at 6:00 P.M. [3] Fourth of July. From 6:00 P.M. on July 3rd until 6:00 P.M. on July 5th. [4] Fall Break. From 6:00 P.M. the day the child is released from school on the child’s last day of school before Fall Break and ending 6:00 P.M. of the last day before school begins again. [5] Halloween.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.C (Holidays) · source

• Indiana. Indiana splits the Christmas vacation into halves by total days and alternates which parent takes the first half. It also expressly folds New Year’s into that block rather than treating it as its own holiday.

  “Each party will receive one half (1/2) of the total days of the Christmas vacation, on an alternating basis as follows: 1. In even numbered years, the custodial parent shall have the first one half (1/2) of the Christmas vacation and noncustodial parent shall have the second one half (1/2) of the Christmas vacation. 2. In odd numbered years, the noncustodial parent shall have the first one half (1/2) of the Christmas vacation and custodial parent shall have the second one half (1/2) of the Christmas vacation. 3. In those years when Christmas does not fall in a parent’s week, that parent shall have the child from Noon to 9:00 P.M. on Christmas Day.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.B (Christmas Vacation) · source

• Indiana. Indiana states plainly that New Year’s is not a separate holiday – it rides along with whichever half of the Christmas vacation it falls in.

  “New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day shall not be considered separate holidays under the Parenting Time Guidelines.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.B (Christmas Vacation) · source

• Texas. Texas’s Standard Possession Order splits the Christmas school vacation at a fixed calendar pivot – noon on December 28 – rather than at the mathematical midpoint of the break, and alternates the halves by odd and even year.

  “(1) the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child in even-numbered years beginning at 6 p.m. on the day the child is dismissed from school for the Christmas school vacation and ending at noon on December 28, and the managing conservator shall have possession for the same period in odd-numbered years; (2) the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child in odd-numbered years beginning at noon on December 28 and ending at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after that vacation, and the managing conservator shall have possession for the same period in even-numbered years;”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.314, Holiday Possession Unaffected by Distance Parents Reside Apart · source

• Texas. Texas assigns Thanksgiving to the possessory conservator in odd-numbered years by statute, as a Wednesday-evening to Sunday-evening block.

  “(3) the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child in odd-numbered years, beginning at 6 p.m. on the day the child is dismissed from school before Thanksgiving and ending at 6 p.m. on the following Sunday, and the managing conservator shall have possession for the same period in even-numbered years;”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.314 · source

• Arizona. Arizona’s statewide guide names four holiday-division patterns explicitly and gives sample plan language for each – Divide, Alternate, Substitute, and Follow regular schedule. This is the clearest official taxonomy of the patterns.

  “Divide Split the day or weekend (not necessarily equally) between both parents. […] Alternate The children are with one parent on specified holidays in even years and with the other parent in odd years. […] Substitute The children always spend a specific holiday with one parent (for example, Halloween) in exchange for a different holiday with the other parent (for example, Fourth of July). […] Follow regular schedule The children follow their regular schedule and celebrate the holiday with the assigned parent who has parenting time on that day or time.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Holidays section (p. 48) · source

• Arizona. Arizona’s guide notes that many parents mix patterns rather than applying one rule to everything – fixed assignment for Mother’s/Father’s Day, alternation for most holidays, and splitting for the days both parents want.

  “After you decide which holidays apply, think about whether all holidays should be handled the same way or whether it makes more sense to divide some and alternate some. Many parents agree that the children will be with the mother every Mother’s Day and the father every Father’s Day. Many parents divide most of the holidays but split up the time on days that are special for both parents, such as Christmas Eve and Christmas or the child’s birthday.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Holidays section · source

• Arizona. Arizona’s guide sets out the ‘one parent picks first, alternating by year’ mechanism for choosing vacation dates, with a worked example using staggered April deadlines. This is the mechanism behind most summer-week selection clauses.

  “For instance, if each parent has a two-week period, they may decide that in even years, Parent A will have the first chance to choose the vacation dates and must communicate those days in writing by April 1; Parent B will then choose the vacation dates out of the remaining dates and communicate those days in writing by April 15. In this example, Parent B would have first choice in odd-numbered years.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Vacations section (p. 47) · source

• Ohio. Ohio’s Supreme Court guide carries the same picks-first mechanism in nearly identical terms, with the same April 1 / April 15 worked example.

  “For instance, if each parent has a two-week period, they may decide that in even years, Parent A will have the first chance to choose the vacation dates and must communicate those days in writing by April 1 and Parent B will then choose the vacation dates out of the remaining dates and communicate those days in writing by April 15. In this example, Parent B would have the first choice of dates in odd-numbered years.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Ohio’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Supreme Court of Ohio (p. 44) · source

• Minnesota. Minnesota’s SCAO guide frames the same mechanism as a tie-break: it is the rule that decides who wins when both parents nominate the same dates. (read via a cache, not the court’s own server)

  “which parent has first choice if both parents give notice of the same dates for vacation parenting time. For example, Parent A has first choice in odd-numbered years and Parent B has first choice in even-numbered years.”

  Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide, Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office · source

• Florida. Florida’s Supreme Court approved parenting plan uses a three-column grid – Even Years, Odd Years, Every Year – so alternating and fixed assignment sit side by side as choices for each holiday. It also sets a residual rule for holidays left blank.

  “Holidays Even Years Odd Years Every Year Begin/End Time […] If a holiday is not specified as even, odd, or every year with one parent, then the child(ren) will remain with the parent in accordance with the regular schedule”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), section on Holiday Schedule · source

• Florida. Florida offers the weekend-attached halves pattern for Spring Break – the same idea as Washington’s, expressed as a split rather than a Wednesday handover.

  “The Spring Break will be evenly divided. The first half of the Spring Break will go to the parent whose regularly scheduled weekend falls on the first half and the second half going to the parent whose weekend falls during the second half.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Spring Break · source

• Montana. Montana’s MP-300 splits winter vacation into two named halves that pivot at the break’s midpoint, and asks the parents to write ‘Odd’ or ‘Even’ against each parent for every listed holiday.

  “(Specify Odd or Even Numbered Years) HOLIDAY […] First Half of Winter Vacation (includes Christmas) (5:30 p.m. day school lets out to noon of half-way mark) Second Half of Winter Vacation (includes New Years) (Noon of half-way mark to 7:00 p.m. of last day of break)”

  MP-300 Parenting Plan, paragraph 4(c) (Holiday and Special Occasion Schedule) · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska’s parent-created parenting plan does not pre-assign any holiday. It gives each parent two blank lists – one for even years, one for odd years – and lets the parents sort the holidays between them.

  “B. Holidays and other Special Days: 1. The plaintiff will have the following holidays: Even numbered years: _________________, ________________, ________________, __________________, ________________, ________________; Odd numbered years: __________________, _______________, ________________, __________________, _______________, ________________.”

  DC 6:5.37, Parenting Plan Parent-Created (Joint Legal and Joint Physical Custody), Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 9.B · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska splits the Christmas/Winter holiday at a fixed calendar date – December 27 – the same style of pivot Texas uses on December 28, rather than at the midpoint of the school break.

  “The holiday will have two parts: Part one will begin at ____:____ am pm on the day the child(ren) are released from school and end at _____:____ am pm on December 27th. Part two will begin at ____:_____ am pm on December 27th and end the day before school begins at _____:____ am pm.”

  DC 6:5.37, Parenting Plan Parent-Created, Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 9.B.3(f) · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska uses fixed assignment – never alternation – for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, on the same form that alternates everything else.

  “Father’s/Mother’s Day: Every year ________________ will have the child(ren) on Father’s Day and _________________ will have the child(ren) on Mother’s Day.”

  DC 6:5.37, Parenting Plan Parent-Created, Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 9.B.3(h) · source

• Colorado. Colorado’s parenting plan form compresses all three patterns into a single instruction line per holiday – alternate by year, or assign permanently.

  “Enter “Even Years,” “Odd Years,” or “All Years” for a party.”

  JDF 1113, Parenting Plan, R: December 18, 2025, section 12 (Holidays and Special Occasions) · source

• Indiana. Indiana resolves the birthday-versus-holiday collision explicitly, in favor of the holiday – a small rule that changes who has the child on a birthday falling inside a break.

  “When the child’s birthday falls within a Special Day, Holiday, or Christmas vacation, the child’s birthday shall be celebrated with the parent having the child during that time period.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.A.[5] (Special Days) · source

Extended blocks are where the actual holidays happen — and they run on notice deadlines that fall months before the trip. Miss one and, in several states, the choice stops being yours.

• Washington. Washington’s mandatory form structures summer as a fixed number of ‘uninterrupted’ weeks and requires the parents to confirm their chosen dates in writing by a deadline they fill in themselves. The form supplies the deadline mechanism but not the date.

  “The Summer Schedule is the same as the School Schedule except that each parent shall spend ____ weeks of uninterrupted vacation time with the children each summer. The parents shall confirm their vacation schedules in writing by the end of (date) ____________ each year.”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 2 (Summer Schedule) · source

• Indiana. Indiana’s default is half the summer, which may be taken in one block or two, with a hard April 1 notice deadline. If the deadline is missed the right to choose passes to the other parent – and a selection made on time cannot be refused.

  “One-half of the Summer Vacation. The summer vacation begins the day after school lets out for the summer and ends the day before school resumes for the new school year. The time may be either consecutive or split into two (2) segments. The noncustodial parent shall give notice to the custodial parent of the selection by April 1 of each year. If such notice is not given, the custodial parent shall make the selection and notify the other parent. All notices shall be given in writing and verbally. A timely selection may not be rejected by the other parent.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.3 (Extended Parenting Time, Child 5 and older) · source

• Indiana. For younger children Indiana uses a different structure entirely – four separate weeks rather than a half-summer block, with a 60-day notice period attaching to each individual week.

  “The noncustodial parent shall have up to four (4) non-consecutive weeks during the year beginning at 6:00 P.M. on Sunday until 6:00 P.M. on the following Sunday. The noncustodial parent shall give at least sixty (60) days advance notice of the use of a particular week.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.2 (Extended Parenting Time, Child 3 through 4 Years Old) · source

• Indiana. Indiana does not suspend the regular schedule during a long summer block. The other parent keeps alternating weekends and midweek time throughout, with an express carve-out for out-of-town travel – the provision that makes a long trip workable.

  “During any extended summer period of more than two (2) consecutive weeks with the noncustodial parent, the custodial parent shall have the benefit of the regular parenting time schedule set forth above, which includes alternating weekends and mid-week parenting time, unless impracticable because of distance created by out of town vacations.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.3 · source

• Texas. Texas’s Standard Possession Order for parents within 100 miles gives 30 days of summer possession, but only if written notice is given by April 1, and it caps the split at two blocks with a seven-day minimum each. Miss April 1 and the statute picks the dates for you – a fixed July 1 to July 31.

  “if a possessory conservator: (A) gives the managing conservator written notice by April 1 of each year specifying an extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child for 30 days beginning not earlier than the day after the child’s school is dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days each, with each period of possession beginning and ending at 6 p.m. on each applicable day; or (B) does not give the managing conservator written notice by April 1 of each year specifying an extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child for 30 consecutive days beginning at 6 p.m. on July 1 and ending at 6 p.m. on July 31;”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.312(b)(2), Parents Who Reside 100 Miles or Less Apart · source

• Texas. When Texas parents live more than 100 miles apart the same structure runs on bigger numbers – 42 days rather than 30, with the same April 1 deadline, the same two-period cap, and a different statutory default block of June 15 to July 27.

  “if the possessory conservator: (A) gives the managing conservator written notice by April 1 of each year specifying an extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child for 42 days beginning not earlier than the day after the child’s school is dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school resumes at the end of the summer vacation, to be exercised in not more than two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days each […] (B) does not give the managing conservator written notice by April 1 of each year specifying an extended period or periods of summer possession, the possessory conservator shall have possession of the child for 42 consecutive days beginning at 6 p.m. on June 15 and ending at 6 p.m. on July 27;”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.313(3), Parents Who Reside Over 100 Miles Apart · source

• Texas. Texas builds blackout periods into both ends of the summer block: it cannot start before the day after school lets out, and it must end at least seven days before school resumes. The seven-day tail is the constraint that rules out a trip running up to the first day of term.

  “beginning not earlier than the day after the child’s school is dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school resumes at the end of the summer vacation”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.312(b)(2)(A) and Sec. 153.313(3)(A) · source

• Texas. Texas gives the managing conservator a countervailing right to punch a hole in the other parent’s summer – one designated weekend on which the scheduled weekend possession does not happen – on an April 15 deadline, or on 14 days’ notice after April 16. It is expressly barred from colliding with the extended summer block itself or with Father’s Day.

  “if the managing conservator gives the possessory conservator written notice by April 15 of each year or gives the possessory conservator 14 days’ written notice on or after April 16 of each year, the managing conservator may designate one weekend beginning not earlier than the day after the child’s school is dismissed for the summer vacation and ending not later than seven days before school resumes at the end of the summer vacation, during which an otherwise scheduled weekend period of possession by the possessory conservator will not take place, provided that the weekend designated does not interfere with the possessory conservator’s period or periods of extended summer possession or with Father’s Day if the possessory conservator is the father of the child.”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.312(b)(4) · source

• Texas. Texas also lets the managing conservator claim one weekend inside the other parent’s extended summer possession, on an April 15 written-notice deadline – a mid-trip interruption right that has to be planned around.

  “if the managing conservator gives the possessory conservator written notice by April 15 of each year, the managing conservator shall have possession of the child on any one weekend beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. on the following Sunday during one period of possession by the possessory conservator under Subdivision (2), provided that the managing conservator picks up the child from the possessory conservator and returns the child to that same place;”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.312(b)(3) · source

• Florida. Florida’s form offers an equally divided summer with the halves alternating year to year, and asks the parents to write in what contact the non-possessing parent gets during each extended block.

  “The parents shall equally divide the Summer Break as follows: During _____ odd-numbered years_____ even numbered years, _____Parent ______________ _____ Parent ______________ shall have the children from _____________ after school is out until _____________. The other parent shall have the child(ren) for the second one-half of the Summer Break. The parents shall alternate the first and second one-halves each year unless otherwise agreed.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Summer Break · source

• Arizona. Arizona’s guide sets a concrete vacation block with a spacing rule – either 10 days at once or two separate weeks that must be at least three weeks apart – paired with a two-stage notice requirement.

  “Vacation: Each parent may have up to 10 days in town or out of town each year or two one-week periods taken separated by at least three weeks. At least 30 days before the planned vacation, each parent must give the other parent written notice of the travel dates. At least 3 days before travel, each parent must give detailed information to the other parent, including the places they’ll be going and how to reach the child or the parent during the vacation.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, sample parenting time plan (Plan 5) · source

• Minnesota. Minnesota’s guide frames the summer block as three separate decisions parents must make explicitly – total vacation time, maximum length of any single block, and the notice deadline – and gives 30 days or a fixed May 1 date as its worked examples. (read via a cache, not the court’s own server)

  “how much advance notice must be given to the other parent before the start of vacation parenting time. For example, parents may agree to give each other 30 days’ advance notice or notice no later than May 1.”

  Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide, Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office · source

• Minnesota. Minnesota separates ‘how much vacation in total’ from ‘how much at one time’ – the distinction that determines whether a two-week trip is possible at all. (read via a cache, not the court’s own server)

  “how much vacation parenting time may be taken at one time. For example, parents may agree that they each have two weeks of vacation each year and that they may take one two-week vacation or two one-week vacations.”

  Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide, Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska’s sole-custody parenting plan expresses summer as a plain number of weeks, with the parents writing in the start and end date and what time the other parent gets during the block. No notice deadline is printed on the form.

  “C. Summer Parenting Schedule: _______________ will have ___________ weeks of (Plaintiff or Defendant) (number of weeks) summer parenting time.”

  DC 6:5.39, Parenting Plan Parent-Created (Sole Legal and Sole Physical Custody with One Parent), Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 8.C · source

• Montana. Montana’s MP-300 treats summer, winter and spring breaks as three separate free-text blocks with no default weeks and no notice deadline – the form structures the question but supplies no answer.

  “e. Summer Vacation (Choose One): No summer vacation schedule applies. The school schedule in paragraph 4(b) or pre-school schedule in paragraph 4(a) will be followed by both parents. or The child(ren) will live with Petitioner/Co-Petitioner 1 or Respondent/Co-Petitioner 2 during summer vacations, except for these days and times when the child(ren) will spend time with the other parent:”

  MP-300 Parenting Plan, paragraph 4(e) (Summer Vacation) · source

• Indiana. Indiana states that picking your summer weeks does not let you swallow the other parent’s holidays – the holiday schedule survives the summer selection. This is the blackout rule most likely to invalidate a booked trip.

  “The selection of a parent’s summer parenting time shall not deprive the other parent of the Holiday Parenting Time Schedule below.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.3 · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska makes the Fourth of July an express carve-out from the summer block, so a July trip has to be planned around it even when the summer schedule otherwise gives that parent the month.

  “The Fourth of July plan takes priority over those days during summer parenting time.”

  DC 6:5.37, Parenting Plan Parent-Created, Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 9.B.3(c) · source

• Indiana. Indiana requires employer vacation restrictions to be disclosed as soon as they are known, and to be taken into account when the weeks are chosen.

  “Notice of an employer’s restrictions on the vacation time of either parent shall be delivered to the other parent as soon as that information is available. In scheduling parenting time the employer imposed restrictions on either parent’s time shall be considered by the parents in arranging their time with their child.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.3 · source

The mechanic people get wrong when planning a trip. A booked holiday usually does not outrank a holiday in the order.

• Washington. Washington states the rule in one line and makes it absolute: the holiday schedule beats everything else on the form, including the summer schedule. It then supplies tie-breakers for conflicts inside the holiday schedule itself.

  “The Holiday Schedule must be observed over all other schedules. If there are conflicts within the Holiday Schedule (check all that apply): [ ] Named holidays shall be followed before school breaks. [ ] Children’s birthday/s shall be followed before named holidays and school breaks.”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 4 (Conflicts in Scheduling) · source

• Indiana. Indiana sets a three-tier hierarchy rather than a single rule: holidays beat extended (summer) time, and extended time beats the regular schedule. The middle tier is the one people miss when they assume summer weeks are protected.

  “The Holiday Parenting Time Schedule shall take precedence over regularly scheduled and extended parenting time. Extended parenting time takes precedence over regular parenting time unless otherwise indicated in these Guidelines.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.1 (Conflicts Between Regular and Holiday Weekends) · source

• Indiana. Indiana is explicit that a regular weekend lost to the other parent’s holiday is simply gone – it is not made up – and that the alternating pattern keeps running regardless, which can hand one parent three weekends in a row.

  “Alternating weekends shall be maintained throughout the year as follows. If a parent misses a regular weekend because it is the other parent’s holiday, it will be lost. If a parent receives two consecutive weekends because of a holiday, that parent shall have the third weekend also. Regular alternating weekends shall continue throughout the year.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.1 · source

• Texas. Texas states the precedence rule inside the holiday section itself: the listed holidays override conflicting weekend and Thursday possession, and do so regardless of how far apart the parents live.

  “The following provisions govern possession of the child for certain specific holidays and supersede conflicting weekend or Thursday periods of possession without regard to the distance the parents reside apart.”

  Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 153.314, Holiday Possession Unaffected by Distance Parents Reside Apart · source

• Florida. Florida names the summer schedule expressly in its precedence clause, so a Florida holiday allocation cuts into a summer block rather than yielding to it.

  “The Holiday schedule will take priority over the regular weekday, weekend, and summer schedules.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Holiday Schedule, option c · source

• Florida. Florida offers an optional corrective for the three-weekends-in-a-row effect that precedence creates – the opposite choice from Indiana, which lets the lost weekend stay lost.

  “When the parents are using an alternating weekend plan and the holiday schedule would result in one parent having the child(ren) for three weekends in a row, the parents will exchange the following weekend, so that each has two weekends in a row before the regular alternating weekend pattern resumes.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Holiday Schedule, option d · source

• Nebraska. Nebraska states the precedence rule and then makes the knock-on effect an explicit choice between two checkboxes, with a worked Labor Day example. Choosing the second box means holidays do not disturb the weekend rotation at all.

  “Priority of Holiday Parenting Time Schedules: Holiday parenting time schedule takes priority over the regular parenting time schedule. (Check the box that applies): 1. The regular weekend parenting schedule will skip the holiday and be carried forward to the weekend following. […] (OR) 2. Regular parenting time will remain unchanged regardless of holiday parenting time even if it creates a situation where one parent may have the child(ren) three consecutive weekends.”

  DC 6:5.37, Parenting Plan Parent-Created, Rev. 11/2019, paragraph 10 · source

• Arizona. Arizona states the precedence rule at the head of its holidays chapter and extends it to vacations and school breaks, not just named holidays.

  “The schedule for holidays, vacations, and school breaks takes priority over the regularly scheduled parenting time.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Holidays, Vacations, and School Breaks (p. 45) · source

• Ohio. Ohio uses the same sentence and then warns that the conflict rule is itself a term parents must write down – the guide does not assume any default.

  “The schedule for holidays, vacations, and school breaks takes priority over the regularly scheduled parenting time. […] It is also important to determine how to handle conflicts between the regular parenting time schedule and a holiday, vacation, or school break. Is there a priority? These decisions should be included in the parenting time schedule.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Ohio’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Supreme Court of Ohio (p. 43) · source

• Minnesota. Minnesota states the full ordering in one sentence, and it is the clearest statement of the three-tier rule: holidays and school breaks outrank both vacation time and the regular schedule, and vacation time outranks the regular schedule. A booked trip sits in the middle tier, not the top one. (read via a cache, not the court’s own server)

  “Holiday parenting time and school break parenting time take priority over regular parenting time and vacation parenting time, and vacation parenting time takes priority over regular parenting time.”

  Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide, Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office · source

• Colorado. Colorado makes precedence conditional on the holiday actually being filled in – a blank line means the regular schedule simply continues, with no gap and no argument.

  “This schedule will take priority over Sections 10 and 11 unless a holiday is left blank.”

  JDF 1113, Parenting Plan, R: December 18, 2025, section 12 · source

• Montana. Montana inverts the usual assumption at the top of its hierarchy: school attendance outranks the holiday schedule, so a break that ends before the holiday block does cuts the block short.

  “School attendance takes priority over the holiday and special occasion schedule. The child(ren) must attend school and then follow the holiday and special occasion schedule.”

  MP-300 Parenting Plan, paragraph 4(h) (Priorities under the Residential Schedule) · source

• Montana. Montana does not impose a fixed hierarchy below school attendance. It hands the parents a four-item list to rank themselves, which means a Montana plan can legitimately rank vacations above holidays – the reverse of every other form here.

  “If the schedules in this Parenting Plan say the child(ren) are with both parents at the same time for a time other than school, to figure out where the child(ren) should be, the parents will: (choose one) follow the schedules in this order: (1 is most important 4 is least important) __ Holidays and Special Occasion __ Winter/Summer/Spring Break __ Other Vacations with Parents __ Pre School Schedule”

  MP-300 Parenting Plan, paragraph 4(h) · source

• Indiana. Indiana resolves the reverse birthday collision too: a parent’s own birthday yields to a holiday or the Christmas vacation.

  “When the parent’s birthday falls within a Special Day, Holiday or Christmas vacation, the Special Day, Holiday or Christmas vacation takes precedence.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2.A.[5] · source

• Indiana. Indiana ties the whole holiday schedule to a specific school district’s calendar and says which one controls in each situation – the detail that determines when ‘Spring Break’ actually starts when the parents live in different districts.

  “If a child is three (3) years or older, but not yet enrolled in an academic child care program or educational facility, then the district school calendar of the district where the child primarily resides shall control for the purpose of determining holiday parenting time. If the parties equally share parenting time, then the district school calendar of the parent paying controlled expenses shall be used to determine holiday parenting time. If a child is three (3) years or older and enrolled in an academic child care program or educational facility, then the program or educational facility’s calendar where the child is enrolled shall control for the purpose of determining holiday parenting time.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.F.2 (Holiday Schedule) · source

Itinerary, address, contact number, and how far ahead. Notice is not permission — but giving it badly is how a reasonable trip turns into a motion.

• Indiana. Indiana requires an itinerary whenever a child travels out of the area with either parent, and allows a named third-party contact as an alternative to the itinerary. It is framed as emergency notification, not permission – there is no approval step.

  “For emergency notification purposes, whenever a child travels out of the area with either parent, one of the following shall be provided to the other parent: An itinerary of travel dates, destinations, and places where the child or the traveling parent can be reached, or the name and telephone number of an available third person who knows where the child or parent may be located.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section I.A.6 (Emergency Notification) · source

• Arizona. Arizona’s guide uses a two-stage notice: dates far ahead, details close in. Thirty days before travel you owe the dates in writing; three days before you owe the destinations and contact numbers.

  “At least 30 days before the planned vacation, each parent must give the other parent written notice of the travel dates. At least 3 days before travel, each parent must give detailed information to the other parent, including the places they’ll be going and how to reach the child or the parent during the vacation.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, sample parenting time plans · source

• Arizona. Arizona spells out what ‘details’ means, and it is more than a hotel name – flight numbers and times, accommodation, and telephone numbers. It also puts a reciprocal duty on the parent staying home to be reachable.

  “Because transportation, weather, and other issues can cause problems during travel, it’s important to provide the other parent with details about when and where travel will occur. Details include flight numbers and times, hotels, places where the child will be staying, and telephone numbers.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Vacations section · source

• Ohio. Ohio’s guide carries the same itemized list and adds the travel documents the traveling parent should be holding, including a notarized consent to travel for international trips.

  “Because transportation, weather, and other issues can cause problems during travel, the vacationing parent should provide the other parent with details about when and where travel will occur, including flight numbers and times, hotels, places where the child will be staying, and telephone numbers. The parent traveling with the child should have passports, travel documentation, including a notarized consent to travel form if traveling outside the United States, updated medical information, insurance cards, prescriptions, and any other special supplies the child needs.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Ohio’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Supreme Court of Ohio · source

• Ohio. Ohio also puts a reciprocal obligation on the non-traveling parent to be contactable during the trip – a detail usually omitted when people copy travel clauses.

  “If the vacationing parent provides a written schedule that includes this information, the non-vacationing parent will be assured of the ability to communicate in case of emergency. In that same way, the non-vacationing parent should provide contact information if he or she will not be at home during the child’s vacation.”

  Planning for Parenting Time: Ohio’s Guide for Parents Living Apart, Supreme Court of Ohio · source

• Florida. Florida’s form separates out-of-state from out-of-country travel and prints two independent blanks for out-of-state trips – one for notice of the trip, one for delivery of the itinerary. Both numbers are left for the parties to fill in, so a Florida plan can end up with an itinerary deadline later than its travel-notice deadline if nobody checks.

  “Either parent may travel within the United States with the child(ren) during his/her time-sharing. The parent traveling with the child(ren) shall give the other parent at least ____ days written notice before traveling out of state unless there is an emergency, and shall provide the other parent with a detailed itinerary, including locations and telephone numbers where the child(ren) and parent can be reached at least ____ days before traveling.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Foreign and Out-Of-State Travel, option a · source

• Florida. For international travel Florida requires the itinerary on a single fill-in deadline and adds a mutual duty to supply travel documents – the clause that governs whether a passport application can proceed.

  “Either parent may travel out of the country with the child(ren) during his/her time-sharing. At least ___ days prior to traveling, the parent shall provide a detailed itinerary, including locations, and telephone numbers where the child(ren) and parent may be reached during the trip. Each parent agrees to provide whatever documentation is necessary for the other parent to take the child(ren) out of the country.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Foreign and Out-Of-State Travel, option b · source

• Colorado. Colorado’s form reduces the whole travel-notice question to one opt-in sentence with no deadline and no itemized itinerary – a striking contrast with Arizona’s 30-day/3-day structure, and a reminder that the level of detail is a state-by-state choice, not a standard.

  “The Parties agree to tell each other about plans for overnight and out-of-state travel with the children and to provide contact information.”

  JDF 1113, Parenting Plan, R: December 18, 2025, section 14 (Travel and Vacations) · source

• Washington. Washington’s mandatory form contains no travel-notice or itinerary clause in its parenting time schedule. Its only summer deadline is the requirement to confirm vacation dates in writing by a date the parties supply.

  “The parents shall confirm their vacation schedules in writing by the end of (date) ____________ each year.”

  FL All Family 140, Parenting Plan (07/2025), Attachment R, section 2 · source

• Indiana. Indiana requires summer selection notice to be given in two channels, not one – written and verbal. A text message alone does not obviously satisfy it.

  “All notices shall be given in writing and verbally.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section II.D.3 · source

• Minnesota. Minnesota’s guide treats the notice deadline as a term the parents must positively choose, and offers both a rolling period and a fixed calendar date as models. (read via a cache, not the court’s own server)

  “For example, parents may agree to give each other 30 days’ advance notice or notice no later than May 1.”

  Child-Focused Parenting Time Guide, Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office · source

The clause that catches people out, because it bites on trips you take without the children as well as trips with them.

• Indiana. Indiana sets no hours or overnight threshold at all. The trigger is the need for non-family childcare, whatever its length, and the guidelines say expressly that the triggering period varies by family rather than being fixed.

  “When it becomes necessary that a child be cared for by a person other than a parent or a responsible household family member, the parent needing the child care shall first offer the other parent the opportunity for additional parenting time, if providing the child care by the other parent is practical considering the time available and the distance between residences. The other parent is under no obligation to provide the child care. If the other parent elects to provide this care, it shall be done at no cost and without affecting child support. The parent exercising additional parenting time shall provide the necessary transportation unless the parties otherwise agree.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section I.C.4 (Opportunity for Additional Parenting Time) · source

• Indiana. Indiana’s commentary states that the threshold is deliberately left to the parents, and that the rule is presumed to apply in every case the guidelines cover unless a court deviates.

  “The period of absence which triggers the exchange will vary depending upon the circumstances of the parties. Parents should agree on the amount of child care time and the circumstances that require the offer be made. It is presumed that this rule applies in all cases which the guidelines cover; however, the parties or a trial court may, within discretion, determine that a deviation is necessary or appropriate.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Commentary to Section I.C.4 · source

• Indiana. Indiana expressly rejects the label everyone uses for this provision, on the ground that it is an offer of parenting time rather than a veto over the other parent’s arrangements. Worth knowing before quoting ‘right of first refusal’ at an Indiana court.

  “This section is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the “right of first refusal.” It is more accurate to refer to this section as an opportunity to exercise additional parenting time.”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Commentary to Section I.C.4 · source

• Florida. Florida’s approved parenting plan does put a numeric threshold on the form, but leaves the number blank for the parties to fill in – so in Florida the threshold is whatever the completed plan says, and an unfilled blank leaves nothing to enforce.

  “Each parent must offer the other parent the opportunity to care for the child(ren) before using a child care provider for any period exceeding _______ hours.”

  Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.995(a), Parenting Plan (02/18), Child Care section, option 3 · source

• Illinois. Illinois defines the right by statute but ties it to a ‘significant period of time’ rather than to a number, and requires the court to fix the triggering length itself if the parents have not agreed one.

  “As used in this Section, “right of first refusal” means that if a party intends to leave the minor child or children with a substitute child-care provider for a significant period of time, that party must first offer the other party an opportunity to personally care for the minor child or children.”

  750 ILCS 5/602.3(b), Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act · source

• Illinois. Illinois requires a court-imposed right of first refusal to specify four things, the first of which is the triggering threshold – so an Illinois order that grants the right without stating a length is incomplete on the statute’s own terms. Transportation is on the same required list, which is what makes the provision bite on travel.

  “If there is no agreement and the court determines that a right of first refusal is in the best interests of the minor child or children, the court shall consider and make provisions in its order for: (1) the length and kind of child-care requirements invoking the right of first refusal; (2) notification to the other parent and for his or her response; (3) transportation requirements; and (4) any other action necessary to protect and promote the best interest of the minor child or children.”

  750 ILCS 5/602.3(b) · source

• Illinois. Illinois exempts emergencies from the right entirely, and makes it available only where both parents already have parenting time.

  “If the court awards parenting time to both parents under Section 602.7 or 602.8, the court may consider, consistent with the best interests of the child as defined in Section 602.7, whether to award to one or both of the parties the right of first refusal to provide child care for the minor child or children during the other parent’s normal parenting time, unless the need for child care is attributable to an emergency.”

  750 ILCS 5/602.3(a) · source

• Indiana. How this interacts with travel: none of the three provisions above is triggered by a parent taking the child away. Indiana and Illinois trigger on substitute childcare during that parent’s own time, and Indiana adds a practicality limit that distance itself can defeat. A parent traveling with the child is not using a substitute care provider, so the right is not engaged; a parent leaving the child behind with a sitter to travel alone is squarely within it.

  “if providing the child care by the other parent is practical considering the time available and the distance between residences”

  Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, Section I.C.4 · source

• Washington, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado. Several major statewide forms contain no right of first refusal at all – Washington’s mandatory FL All Family 140, Nebraska’s DC 6:5.37 and 6:5.39, Montana’s MP-300 and Colorado’s JDF 1113 were each read in full and none contains such a clause. Its absence from a form is not a drafting oversight to be assumed away; in these states it has to be added as a custom term.

  FL All Family 140 (07/2025); DC 6:5.37 and DC 6:5.39 (Rev. 11/2019); MP-300; JDF 1113 (R: December 18, 2025)

Read directly from official statewide parenting-plan forms, court guidelines and statutes in eleven states — Indiana, Washington, Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Montana, Arizona, Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois — plus Michigan and Utah as checks on what is absent. No advice blogs, no custody apps, no law-firm content marketing.

One thing we did not find is worth stating plainly, because it contradicts a lot of confident writing: no statewide form we read sets a fixed number of hours for right of first refusal. Indiana expressly declines to, saying the triggering period “will vary”; Florida prints a blank to fill in; Illinois leaves it to the court. The four-hour and overnight figures people quote come from individual county orders, not from any state’s default.

Sources we could not read, recorded so you know what was not checked: Minnesota — ; Texas — ; Indiana — ; Indiana — ; Michigan — ; None — ; New Hampshire —.

Found an error? Tell us — it goes on the corrections page with the date and how long it was live.

• Traveling with your children — passports, consent letters, and what stops a departure
• Your state’s travel and relocation rules
• Traveling as one — for the weeks when they are with the other parent
• Finding childcare when the schedule changes — and the clause in your order that decides who may cover it