Standard vs. Custom Child Custody Visitation Schedules

When a child’s parents divorce, barring exceptional circumstances, the courts give them the opportunity to create a visitation schedule that works with their particular lives and circumstances. But some parents are simply unable to get through that process — for those parents, the court will most often order a generic, standardized custody visitation schedule. This can happen because:

• Either parent shows evidence of being more interested in using the scheduling process to hurt their ex than they are in using it for the benefit of the child. If that parent’s vendetta takes precedence over well-being and emotional health, no consensus is possible. The courts often have to implement a standard schedule in these circumstances.
• The relationship between the parents is so soured that they simply cannot be in the same room together in the first place. Two people who cannot communicate will never be able to work out a custom custody visitation schedule.
• One parent is distinctly endangered by the other, such as in some cases of severe domestic abuse. Alternatively, one parent is psychologically rendered impotent by the other, most often through intimidation or after years of being completely subjugated. In a situation where one parent finds themselves unwilling or unable to contribute, even without any animosity necessarily involved, the courts will have to make the relevant decisions for them.
• Even after putting in significant effort (i.e. attempting to come to an agreement, attending mediation about the subject, and so on), the parents simply cannot reach a satisfactory arrangement. Most often, this happens when willing spouses have lives that are simply too different to allow for reasonable compromises to achieve the desired goal.

When these sorts of situations arise, the court will often simply hand out a standard custody agreement. While the ‘standard’ is a guideline, not a law, the courts tend to hold fairly closely to those guidelines unless there is a pressing reason to do otherwise.

What Is the ‘Standard’ Schedule?
According to Michigan guidelines, the standard schedule works like this: the custodial parent has custody at all times not listed below:

• Every other weekend,
• Every Wednesday evening,
• During odd-numbered years, on the holidays of Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, and Winter Break,
• During even-numbered years, on the holidays of Independence Day and Thanksgiving weekend, and during Spring Break,
• (Mother’s Day shall be spent with the mother and Father’s Day with the father),
• (Up to 4 other holidays of the parents’ choice may be alternated in this manner),
• One month of Summer Break beginning the first Friday after Independence Day, except for the second weekend of this month.

In addition to these scheduled times, the non-custodial parent is assumed, barring contrary circumstances, to be the default child-care option should child care be needed, and is also granted rights to communicate with the child via phone or Internet. They must also be informed by the custodial parent if the child is going with them on vacation or on any extended trip to an unusual address.  In all cases, any date or set of dates mentioned is assumed to start at 6pm the day before the set begins, and end on 6pm of the final date within that set. (i.e. Labor Day weekend starts at 6pm on the Friday before Labor day, and ends at 6pm on Labor Day.)

In general, it is beneficial for almost every couple to work out a schedule that works for them. The standard schedule is designed to be fair, and it is designed for the child’s emotional health, but it is not particularly easy for parents with even the most modestly atypical schedule to work around. It can be quite worth it to put in the work to endure your spouse and put a customized schedule together. If you’re not sure how you can get the job done, get help — call Gucciardo Family Law at 248-723-5190, and we’ll see what we can do.