Reprinted from the November 5, 2014 Mongoose newsletter.
Clients and former clients have already started calling about arguments over which parent has possession of the kids this coming weekend. Most people think last weekend was the first weekend of November and yet last weekend started with Friday, October 31. Our clients need to be reminded that weekend visitation is based on Fridays – 1st, 3rd and 5th. Expect a few emergency calls Friday and some enforcements to arise out of this coming weekend.
In 2015, January, May, July and October have five Fridays. That means a parent with visitation under a standard possession order will have three weekends in those months and have two weekends in a row when the fifth Friday of one month is followed by the first Friday of the next month. Your clients will appreciate it if you forewarn them about these calendar anomalies. Next year, the parent with visitation rights, for example, should carefully consider that July gives him three weekends when designating his extended summer possession period – he may want to split up his 30 days of summer possession into June and August to maximize his time with the children.