The right of a non-custodial parent to visit or spend time with his or her children is a crucial legal arrangement. The term "child visitation" refers to the time when the non-custodial parent has the right to be with the child. Child visitation can take a variety of forms or schedules. Some common arrangements include the following:
- Alternate weekend visitation with the non-custodial parent, including three-day holidays.
- Mid-week visitation with the non-custodial parent.
- Sharing of the child during periods of school recess: winter, spring and summer.
- New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or the other in alternate years.
- Mother's Day with Mother, Father's Day with Father.
- Alternate years on the child's birthday.
- Open telephone contact by the parent who does not have actual physical custody of the child.
- Exchange of a few days of visitation as mutually agreed without the need for a change or modification of the court order.
