July 2021 and the Standard Possession Order

Hi there, Chris Schmiedeke from Divorce Simplified, here again for a review of the Texas Standard Possession Order for the month of July. We are deep in the heart of the summer. Hopefully everybody is getting up to speed on what the summer possession provisions look like, but let’s get to the actual calendar.

Summer Possession for Non-Custodial Parent in July

You can see from the July calendar that I have made a big assumption that the non-custodial parent has not designated a custom extended summer possession. The July calendar reflects a default July 1st to July 31st situation. Non-custodial parent, if you did not give notice by April 1st of your custom extended summer possession, this is what it will be, July 1st to July 31st.

Does Custodial Parent Get a Weekend in July?

Note here that there is not a weekend designated for the custodial parent. Custodial parent, you have until April 15th to designate one weekend inside this extended summer possession. Go back and review my April Standard Possession video for how that works in terms of the notice. But one of these weekends In July, theoretically could go to the custodial parent if they gave notice by April 15th.

Custodial parent, if you want a weekend outside of this extended summer of the non-custodial parent in June or in August, you can give notice by April 15th or 14 days’ notice of the time that you want. But the weekend inside of this extended summer possession has to be given by April 15th.

What If Non-Custodial Parent Does Not Show Up for July 1^st Visitation?

I’ve had a few questions come to me about what if the non-custodial parent does not show up for the July 1st visitation? That’s a very good question.  You can see on the calendar that I have not designated any weekend periods of possession in here. There is a reason for that. Because the summer is a holiday possession and it is going to overwrite the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Fridays of the month, so those do not exist.

If the non-custodial parent does not show up on July 1st at 6:00 PM to pick up, then they’re going to forfeit that entire month. So, then you say, well, what about the weekends? The weekends don’t exist because this summer holiday possession overwrote those weekends.

While technically the non-custodial parent forfeits the entire month, that’s probably not the best course of action. If the parent wants to exercise the weekend visits or some weekend visits, my suggestion is always to work with the other parent and, you know, come up with some arrangement that’s outside of what might normally be the standard possession order and let them have some access. You’ll get the bulk of the month anyway, custodial parent, so it’s kind of a win for you anyway if they’re only going to do the weekend visit.

How Can Custodial Parent Designate a Weekend in July?

Custodial parent, back to the situation where you can designate a weekend. You could pick the 2nd through the 4th. You could pick the 9th through the 11th, the 16th through the 18th, the 23rd through the 25th. All of those are available to you. You just have to have given notice by April 15th.

Okay, so there you go. July is not too super detailed. You know you got a weekend in there for the custodial parent that they should have chosen by April 15th. If they didn’t, they don’t get a weekend in there and everything else goes to the non-custodial parent. I hope everyone is having a spectacular first summer out of COVID and that everybody’s getting to do some vacationing and all of that. I will talk to you again next month.