{"id":2476,"date":"2016-12-01T14:56:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T19:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2476"},"modified":"2016-11-30T14:57:30","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T19:57:30","slug":"what-does-your-agreement-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2476","title":{"rendered":"What does your agreement say?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time of year is often full of celebrations and good times.\u00a0 However, it is often a time of great stress.\u00a0 This is especially true for families that are going through the divorce process or have concluded the process.\u00a0 Parenting is a big issue in virtually every case I have handled where there are children.\u00a0 Parenting time becomes even more highlighted during the holidays.\u00a0 The reality is that many of the pre-divorce traditions must change as the parents are no longer residing under one roof.<\/p>\n

How to make holiday parenting time decisions easier to deal with<\/strong><\/p>\n

I often receive calls from frantic parents who are trying to resolve holiday parenting time at the last minute.\u00a0 As with most major issues in life, waiting to the last minute is never a good idea.\u00a0 These phone calls do not come from my current or prior clients and I’ll explain why later.<\/p>\n

Once the caller tells me the issue they are calling about is holiday parenting time, I have a standard question: What does your Agreement say?\u00a0 Whether it be your final Marital Settlement agreement or an interim order, the language of any such document concerning holiday parenting time governs.\u00a0 Sadly, I often hear “What agreement” or “We didn’t address that” in response to my inquiry.\u00a0 Creating clear and detailed parenting time plans is a crucial part of resolving your case.\u00a0 Doing so provides guidance and avoids conflicts in the future. The reason my clients don’t frantically call me on Christmas Eve is because we have carefully constructed language in their Agreement to address such an event.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What to do if there are no Orders in place or if your Agreement is silent as to holiday parenting time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you find yourself without any guidance you must act quickly!\u00a0 Frankly, if you are reading this post it is all but too late to have the court intervene.\u00a0 In New Jersey, family court motions are heard on a 24 day cycle.\u00a0 If you haven’t’ filed a motion yet its too late for this Christmas.\u00a0 But you should proceed with putting plans in place for future holidays.\u00a0 To make things easier the Court has created a generic schedule that can be adopted or modified as may be appropriate in any given case. court-holiday-pt-schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best course of action is to make sure this topic is properly dealt with during the divorce.\u00a0 The second best option is work with your former spouse in a constructive and respectful manner and remain focused on the children,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This time of year is often full of celebrations and good times.\u00a0 However, it is often a time of great stress.\u00a0 This is especially true for families that are going through the divorce process or have concluded the process.\u00a0 Parenting … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[163,30,29,122,77],"class_list":["post-2476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-durstfirm-news","tag-christman","tag-custody","tag-divorce","tag-holiday","tag-parenting-time"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6omM8-DW","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3034,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=3034","url_meta":{"origin":2476,"position":0},"title":"Prepare now for happier holidays","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"October 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanksgiving turkey and side dishes by mdburnette is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0 As we head into fall, it is no secret that the holidays are right around the corner. 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