Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

When presenting your divorce, custody modification, child support modification, or other family law case to the trial court, it is imperative that your Atlanta divorce attorney presents all relevant evidence in your case. The Supreme Court of Georgia recently denied an appeal by a father in a divorce case who attempted to present evidence in his appellate brief that he did not present at his hearing in front of the Dekalb County trial court. Bankston v. Lachman, 286 Ga. 459 (2010). In that divorce case, the trial court awarded primary physical custody of the parties’ two-year-old daughter to the mother and awarded visitation to the father “for four hours each weekend until the child begins kindergarten full time,” at which point overnight visitation would begin. Id. at 459. Though the father requested overnight visitation to begin immediately, the trial court denied his request, explaining that “it believed young children should not spend long periods and weekends with non-custodial parents…[b]ased on everything [the court] had read and talked to about child development experts…” Id. at 460.

The father appealed the trial court’s denial of additional visitation arguing that “the trial court is out of sync with current opinion about the need to establish a firm parental bond between a child and his or her non-custodial parent,” and referencing two models recommending “that children have more visitation time, including overnight visits, with non-custodial parents, beginning at an early age, and increasing as the child grows older.” Id. The Supreme Court of Georgia pointed out, however, “the record does not reflect that that these models were presented to the trial court; nor does it show that trial counsel made the argument which husband asserts on appeal.” Id. Thus, these arguments could not be relied upon on appeal. The father had to prove that the trial court abused its discretion in ruling on the evidence presented to it, and this the father could not do.

In discussing a visitation arrangement with your soon to be ex-spouse, it is important to address your child’s birthday. Unfortunately, following a divorce, many parents do not have a relationship that would allow them to celebrate the child’s birthday together so they have to somehow share this important day in their child’s life. One option is for the parents to alternate years, with one parent having the child on his/her birthday in even years and the other parent having the child on his/her birthday in odd years. Another option is to split the day between the parents. For example, the child could spend the night with one parent on the night before his/her birthday and stay with that parent through lunchtime. The other parent would then have the child for the afternoon and evening of his/her birthday. This way, each parent gets quality time with the child on his/her birthday to have a party or otherwise celebrate with them.

“Standard visitation” works well for some parents, but it may not be realistic for your family. In coming up with a visitation schedule with your spouse, it is important to consider the special circumstances in your family’s lives, such as the following:

Work commitments – Do you or does your spouse travel during the week? If so, weeknight visitation may not work for the travelling parent. Do you or does your spouse work late during the week? In this situation, an overnight during the week, rather than just dinner, may allow you to keep your work commitments while spending some quality time with your children during the week.

Children’s extracurricular activities – Do your children participate in extracurricular activities? Is it appropriate for parents to attend and watch the activity (ex: baseball practice, cheerleading practice)? Will you and your spouse both attend these activities or will you alternate? Perhaps the noncustodial parent can have dinner before or after the extracurricular activity to give him/her additional time. If the activities occur on weekends, you might be able to see your children at these activities even when it is not your weekend.

Holidays are special times for most families and one of the most difficult things for divorcing parents to come to terms with is the fact that they will not be spending all of the holidays with their children every year after the divorce. This can be difficult for the children as well as the parents so it is important to create a schedule where each parent has significant time with the children during the holidays.

The following is an example of a holiday visitation schedule that has worked for many parents:

In even numbered years, the Father has Thanksgiving and the second week of Christmas Vacation/Winter Break (beginning the afternoon of Christmas Day), while the Mother has Easter/Spring Break and the first week of Christmas Vacation/Winter Break (ending the afternoon of Christmas Day). In odd numbered years, the Father has Easter/Spring Break and the first week of Christmas Vacation/Winter Break (ending the afternoon of Christmas Day), while the Mother has Thanksgiving and the second week of Christmas Vacation/Winter Break (beginning the afternoon of Christmas Day). The Mother has Mother’s Day every year, and the Father has Father’s Day every year. Any holiday that falls on a Monday (i.e. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day) will belong to the parent who has the children the preceding weekend.

If you are going through a divorce and you and your spouse have children together, an inevitable question will be: how often will I see my children? It is most common for one parent to have primary physical custody with the other parent having secondary physical custody and visitation. In discussing the custody and visitation arrangement with your spouse or divorce attorney, you will likely hear the term “standard visitation.”

“Standard visitation” is generally every other weekend with one overnight during the week in which the non-custodial parent does not have weekend visitation. Standard visitation includes an equal split of all holidays. Each parent generally has half of the holidays each year with the holidays rotating every other year. For example, one parent will have Thanksgiving with the children in even numbered years and the other parent will have Thanksgiving with the children in odd numbered years. In addition, with standard visitation, each parent generally has blocks of extended time (2-3 weeks) during the summer for vacations with the children.

Our divorce law firm likes to use “standard visitation” as a starting point for custody and visitation discussions as the “standard visitation” outlined above does not work for all families. Some families want different holidays addressed while work commitments may keep some parents from having overnights with the children during the week. Whatever your family’s situation, it is important to find a visitation schedule that works well for both parents as well as the children.