June is here, and so is the summer. By the time you read this, most kids should be out of school. Some important notes to remember in a standard possession order in Texas: the weekend visitations continue throughout the summer; and weeknight possessions do not. I get this question all the time and for some reason, people cannot figure this out. This is how you tell in your order:
- The Thursday possessions (or Wednesdays in older orders) say: “during the school term”, such and such parent shall have Thursdays (or Wednesdays). This means when school is in session. If your child is too young for school, then it goes by the calendar of the school district they would be in if they were old enough, to determine when school is in session.
- If you will review the weekend provisions, however, you will see there is no such language. That is because weekend possessions continue all year long. Newer orders have two paragraphs, one that designates the time for weekend possession during the school term and one paragraph for weekend possession when the kids are not in school.
The weekend possessions during the summer are trumped by summer visitation, which is the same for other holidays. Holidays always trump weekend and/or weekday possessions.
For a review of other summer issues please review my post on summer visitation in Texas.
If you are a parent exercising standard visitation in Texas, and you have not otherwise designated some time in June for your Extended Summer Possession, you will have the following weekends:
- June 5th (first Friday); and
- June 19 (it is fathers day weekend AND third Friday of the month)
- There is not a 5th Friday this month
Again, no Thursdays (or Wednesdays in older orders) this month.
Finally, despite the pandemic and COVID-19 issues, all visits are to take place as normal per the Supreme Court of Texas. You can find further information here.
Have a good summer!