Indiana’s holiday parenting time schedule, set by the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines and last updated January 1, 2022, sorts major holidays into two groups that flip between parents each year, with separate rules for winter break, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays. Holiday time sits at the top of the priority order, so it overrides regular weekend visits and even extended summer parenting time.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines If a holiday lands on the other parent’s regular weekend, the holiday schedule controls.
Which Schedule Beats Which
The order is simple. Holiday parenting time comes first. Extended parenting time, such as summer weeks, comes second. Regular weekend rotation comes last.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Make-up time exists for lost parenting hours generally, but it cannot be used to override a holiday or special day.
Holidays the Noncustodial Parent Has in Even Years
The following holidays go to the noncustodial parent in even-numbered years (2026, 2028, and so on) and to the custodial parent in odd-numbered years:
- Martin Luther King Day: Friday 6:00 p.m. to Monday 6:00 p.m., only if the child’s school observes the holiday.
- Presidents’ Day: Same hours and same school-observance requirement.
- Memorial Day: Friday 6:00 p.m. to Monday 6:00 p.m.
- Labor Day: Friday 6:00 p.m. to Monday 6:00 p.m.
- Thanksgiving: Wednesday 6:00 p.m. to Sunday 6:00 p.m.
Holidays the Noncustodial Parent Has in Odd Years
These holidays go to the noncustodial parent in odd-numbered years (2027, 2029, and so on) and to the custodial parent in even-numbered years:
- Spring Break: From 6:00 p.m. on the child’s last day of school before break until 6:00 p.m. the day before school starts again.
- Easter: Friday 6:00 p.m. to Sunday 6:00 p.m.
- Fourth of July: July 3 at 6:00 p.m. to July 5 at 6:00 p.m.
- Fall Break: Same structure as Spring Break.
- Halloween: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., or the local trick-or-treat hours in the community where the parent with parenting time lives.
The Fourth of July and Thanksgiving sit in different groups on purpose. A noncustodial parent who has Thanksgiving in 2026 does not also have the Fourth of July that year. The offset keeps one parent from collecting every marquee holiday in the same calendar.
Winter Break and Christmas
Winter break runs from the last day of school through the day before school resumes, and each parent gets exactly half. The halves alternate.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
- Even-numbered years: The custodial parent has the first half; the noncustodial parent has the second half.
- Odd-numbered years: The noncustodial parent has the first half; the custodial parent has the second half.
The first half starts at 6:00 p.m. on the day the child is released from school. The second half ends at 6:00 p.m. the day before school resumes. To find the midpoint, count the total vacation days and divide by two.
Christmas Day has its own carve-out. In years when December 25 falls in the other parent’s half of the break, the parent who does not have the child that day still gets time from noon to 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. Neither parent ever loses Christmas entirely.
Two more rules smooth the exchanges. No handoffs happen after 9:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m. unless both parents agree. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are not separate holidays; they fall inside whichever half of break they land in.
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Birthdays
Certain days belong to a specific parent every year, no matter whose weekend or holiday it is.
- Mother’s Day: With the mother, Friday 6:00 p.m. to Sunday 6:00 p.m.
- Father’s Day: With the father, same Friday-to-Sunday window.
- A parent’s birthday: The child spends 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. with that parent. On a school day, the window shrinks to 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The child’s birthday alternates. In even years, the noncustodial parent has the child on the actual birthday (9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., or 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on a school day), and the custodial parent gets the day before on the same hours. In odd years, the arrangement flips.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Both parents get a celebration near the day every year.
One catch surprises parents often. If a child’s birthday falls during a holiday, special day, or Christmas vacation, the birthday is celebrated with whichever parent already has the child. There is no separate birthday visit that overrides the holiday. The same rule works in reverse for a parent’s birthday that lands inside a holiday or break period.
Changing the Schedule by Agreement
The guidelines are a floor. Parents can build their own holiday plan, put it in writing, sign it, and file it with the court for approval; once approved, the custom plan is enforceable in place of the default.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines A deviation that gives one parent less than the guideline minimum must include a written explanation of why the change serves the child’s best interests. A deviation that gives more time than the minimum does not.
Future updates to the guidelines do not automatically change an existing order. Parents who want to adopt a newer version can file a written agreement to do so.
When the Other Parent Won’t Follow the Schedule
A court can enforce or modify any parenting time order whenever doing so serves the child’s best interests, and it may award reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and litigation expenses to the parent who prevails, particularly when the other parent knowingly or intentionally violated the order.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-4-2 – Modification or Denial; Restriction of Parenting Time
When a custodial parent intentionally violates a court order about parenting time without justifiable cause, the court is required to find that parent in contempt and must order make-up parenting time at a schedule that works for the noncustodial parent and the child. The court may also order the violating parent to pay the other’s attorney fees and to perform community service.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-4-8 – Contempt
Filing a contempt petition in Indiana currently carries no filing fee. Before going to court, document each missed exchange with texts, exact dates and times, and a written log. A single missed handoff is harder to prove than a pattern.