Standard Visitation Schedule in Georgia: Holidays, Summer, and Age Rules

Georgia does not write a single visitation schedule into state law, but the pattern judges and court-issued forms follow is consistent enough that most families use it as a starting point. The standard visitation schedule in Georgia gives the noncustodial parent the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month from Friday at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday at 6:00 p.m., a midweek evening visit, alternating holidays by odd and even years, and an extended summer block.¹ Everything else, including whether you deviate from that baseline, gets negotiated into the parenting plan that O.C.G.A. § 19-9-1 requires in every custody case.²

The Weekend and Midweek Baseline

The first, third, and fifth weekend arrangement is the most common schedule in Georgia parenting plans. Sample court forms set these weekends from Friday at 6:00 p.m. through Sunday at 6:00 p.m.¹ A fifth Friday only lands in the calendar a few times a year, so that extra weekend adds time for the noncustodial parent without creating a complicated rotation.

Midweek contact fills the gap. A Wednesday evening from roughly 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is typical, though some families negotiate a midweek overnight ending at school drop-off Thursday morning. The midweek visit matters more than it looks on paper. A full week without seeing a parent is hard on younger children, and judges tend to favor plans that avoid long gaps.

Not every family uses this template. Some negotiate a 50/50 arrangement through a week-on, week-off rotation or a 2-2-3 schedule: two days with one parent, two with the other, then three with the first, flipping the next week. Georgia has no statutory presumption favoring equal parenting time, so a 50/50 split is not a default. Parents who want it have to propose it and show the logistics work, especially school proximity and work schedules.

Holiday Rotation

Holiday schedules override the regular weekend rotation whenever the two collide.¹ Most Georgia plans alternate holidays on an odd-year/even-year basis:

Thanksgiving goes to one parent in even years, the other in odd years.
Winter break is split in two halves, usually running from the last school day through December 25 at a set time (often 2:00 p.m.), with the second half running through New Year’s Eve. Parents alternate which half they take each year.
Spring break and fall break alternate by year, following the child’s school district calendar.

Mother’s Day always goes to the mother and Father’s Day always goes to the father, regardless of whose weekend it would otherwise be.¹ A child’s birthday is often shared, with the noncustodial parent getting a few hours if the birthday lands during the other parent’s time. Georgia’s standard forms also include slots for Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, July 4th, and Halloween, any of which can be assigned by year or split.³

The biggest source of post-divorce conflict is ambiguity about when a holiday period starts and ends. Specify a time of day for every transition. “Thanksgiving” with no further detail invites an argument about whether it means Wednesday evening through Sunday morning or just Thursday afternoon.

Summer and Vacation Time

Summer usually replaces the school-year schedule with longer blocks. Many Georgia plans give the noncustodial parent two to four consecutive weeks of uninterrupted vacation with the child. Some families prefer a week-on, week-off summer rotation so neither parent goes too long without the child.

Most plans require written notice of vacation dates and travel destinations, commonly 30 days in advance. The notice lets the other parent plan around the absence and makes sure both parents know where the child is in an emergency. If the custodial parent relocates during the year, O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3 separately requires written notice of the new address so the other parent can still manage pickups and drop-offs.⁴

How a Child’s Age Changes the Schedule

Georgia gives older children a direct voice in custody that will reshape any standard schedule once the child is old enough to use it.

Age 14 and Older

Once a child turns 14, Georgia law gives the child the right to choose which parent to live with. That choice is presumptive: the court follows it unless the chosen parent is unfit or the arrangement is not in the child’s best interests. A 14-year-old’s election also counts as a material change in circumstances on its own, meaning it can support a modification without anything else having changed. A child can make this election only once every two years.⁴

Ages 11 to 13

Children between 11 and 13 can express a preference, and judges consider it along with the other best-interest factors. The difference matters: an 11-to-13-year-old’s preference does not create a presumption, and it does not by itself qualify as a material change for modification.⁴ The judge weighs the wishes and is free to reach a different result.

Younger Children

For children under 11, the court works entirely from the best-interest factors in O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3(a)(3): each parent’s emotional bond with the child, ability to provide daily care, home stability, mental and physical health, involvement in school and activities, and any history of family violence or substance abuse.⁴ Infants and toddlers sometimes get graduated schedules that start with shorter, more frequent visits and expand as the child grows.

What the Parenting Plan Has to Cover

A schedule by itself is not a parenting plan. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-1(b), the plan filed in every permanent custody or modification case has to spell out, at minimum:

Where the child will be in each parent’s physical care every day of the year, with start and end times.
How holidays, birthdays, vacations, and school breaks will be divided, with specific times each period begins and ends.
How the child will travel between homes, where exchanges happen, and who pays travel costs.
Which parent has authority over education, healthcare, extracurricular activities, and religious upbringing, and how disagreements are resolved when decision-making is shared.
Any limits on phone, video, or other contact with the other parent during parenting time.
Whether any parenting time requires supervision and, if so, who supervises and where.

The plan must also recognize that both parents will have access to the child’s school, medical, and insurance records.² Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.10 provides the statewide template that mirrors these requirements and asks parents to designate legal custody, physical custody, and decision-making authority for each child by name and year of birth.⁵ Most counties post a fillable version on the Superior Court website.

One clause worth adding that the statute does not require is a right of first refusal. It means that before a parent hires a babysitter or leaves the child with a relative during their parenting time, they first offer the other parent the chance to care for the child. If you want that protection, write it in. Don’t assume the court will add it for you.

Changing the Schedule Later

Life changes, and Georgia treats a change to visitation differently from a change to custody.

A judge can review and modify the visitation portion of a custody order without any proof that circumstances have materially changed. The one restriction is timing: that type of review cannot happen more than once every two years from the date the last order was entered.⁴ If the current schedule simply isn’t working, either parent can ask for adjustments without proving a crisis.

Changing which parent has primary custody is a higher bar. You have to show a material change in circumstances affecting the child’s welfare since the last order. Common examples include a parent’s relocation, substance abuse, the child’s changing needs as they grow, or a 14-year-old’s election to live with the other parent. The two-year waiting period does not block a custody modification when a genuine material change has happened.⁴

When the Other Parent Ignores the Schedule

A parenting plan signed by a judge is a court order. If one parent repeatedly refuses to turn over the child, shows up late, or skips exchanges, the other parent has options.

The most direct remedy is a motion for contempt. If the judge finds the court-ordered time was willfully denied, the consequences can include makeup parenting time, payment of the other parent’s attorney fees, and in severe cases, jail. O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3(g) specifically authorizes judges to award attorney fees in custody actions and allows enforcement through contempt.⁴

If the violations are frequent, they can support a motion to modify custody outright. A pattern of interference with the other parent’s time cuts against the offending parent under the best-interest factors, particularly the factor on each parent’s willingness to encourage a close relationship between the child and the other parent.⁴ Keep a log. Document every missed exchange with dates, times, and copies of any text messages or emails. That record is what turns a frustrating pattern into evidence a judge can act on.

1
Fulton County Superior Court. Sample Visitation Schedule
2
Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-1 – Parenting Plans
3
Fulton County Superior Court. Consent Parenting Plan
4
Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-3 – Establishment and Review of Child Custody
5
Georgia Courts. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia – Rule 24.10