Texas Child Custody Calendar: SPO, Holidays, and Summer Rules

Texas’s possession order schedule is the Standard Possession Order in Chapter 153 of the Family Code, and it gives the noncustodial parent (the “possessory conservator”) the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month, a Thursday evening during the school year, alternating holidays on an even/odd-year rotation, and an extended block in summer. The exact hours and dates shift depending on how far apart the parents live, whether the noncustodial parent elects the expanded version, and whether the child is under three.

Weekends and Weekdays When Parents Live Within 100 Miles

If the possessory conservator lives 100 miles or less from the child’s primary residence, weekend possession runs from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday on the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month. During the school year, that parent also has every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., unless the court finds the midweek visit isn’t in the child’s best interest.¹

Two hours on a Thursday is short. It’s meant to keep the noncustodial parent in the child’s weekly routine rather than showing up only on weekends, and in practice it usually covers dinner and homework. Because a court can remove it, if that midweek time matters to you, the order needs to say so explicitly.

What Changes When Parents Live More Than 100 Miles Apart

Distance rewrites the schedule. A possessory conservator more than 100 miles away keeps a choice: continue with the first, third, and fifth weekend rotation, or switch to one weekend per month of the parent’s choosing on 14 days’ written or phone notice to the custodial parent.² The one-weekend election must be made in writing within 90 days of the parents beginning to live more than 100 miles apart. Without an election, the standard rotation controls.

The tradeoff for fewer weekends is more time in longer blocks. Spring break belongs to the distant parent every year rather than alternating, and the summer block grows to 42 days instead of 30.² The Thursday midweek visit drops out entirely.

The Expanded Standard Possession Order

The expanded version is where nearby parents pick up meaningful time. Standard weekends begin Friday at 6 p.m. Under the expanded version, possession begins when school is dismissed on Thursday or Friday (depending on the election) and runs through Monday morning, when the possessory conservator drops the child off at school rather than returning the child Sunday evening. The Texas Office of the Attorney General publishes information on the elections available.³

That shift does two things. It adds overnights, which adds up over a year. And it moves several handoffs from parent-to-parent to parent-to-school. Exchanges are the highest-friction moment in co-parenting, and cutting them tends to cut conflict.

These are elections the noncustodial parent makes at the time the order is completed. If no election is made, the default terms apply. Unless distance or the child’s age makes it impractical, requesting the expanded order is almost always worth doing.

Holidays Override the Weekend Rotation

Holiday possession applies regardless of distance and overrides the regular weekend calendar.⁴ If it’s your weekend under the regular schedule but the holiday provision assigns that time to the other parent, the holiday provision wins. Parents who miss that hierarchy are the ones fighting every November and December.

The alternation:

Christmas break splits at noon on December 28. In even-numbered years, the possessory conservator has the first half, from school dismissal through noon on December 28; in odd-numbered years, the second half, from noon on December 28 through the day before school resumes. The custodial parent takes the opposite half each year.⁴
Thanksgiving goes to the possessory conservator in odd-numbered years, from school dismissal through 6 p.m. the following Sunday, and to the custodial parent in even-numbered years.⁴
Spring break, for parents within 100 miles, alternates: the possessory conservator has it in even-numbered years, from school dismissal through 6 p.m. the day before school resumes, and the custodial parent has it in odd-numbered years.¹

Mark these dates the moment the order is signed. The even/odd pattern is easy once you learn it, but mixing up the year is one of the most common possession disputes Texas courts see.

Summer Possession and the April Deadlines

Summer is the longest uninterrupted stretch the noncustodial parent gets. For parents within 100 miles, it’s 30 days. For parents more than 100 miles apart, it’s 42 days.¹²

April 1 is the deadline that matters. If the possessory conservator gives written notice by April 1 specifying which days they want, they can split the time into up to two separate periods of at least seven consecutive days each. Miss the deadline, and the statute assigns a default block: July 1 through July 31 for parents within 100 miles, or June 15 through July 27 for parents more than 100 miles apart.¹²

The custodial parent has a counterbalancing right. With written notice by April 15, they can claim one weekend (Friday 6 p.m. to Sunday 6 p.m.) during the noncustodial parent’s summer block. If that block runs longer than 30 days, the custodial parent can take two nonconsecutive weekends. This keeps the child from going the entire summer without seeing the custodial parent, and it’s often overlooked until six weeks have gone by.

Children Under Three Get a Custom Schedule

The Standard Possession Order does not apply presumptively to a child under three. The court instead builds a custom schedule using 13 factors focused on the child’s developmental needs, including who provided caregiving before the suit, the effect of separation from either parent, each parent’s availability, and the child’s need for routine and healthy attachments to both parents.⁵

Schedules for very young children tend to use shorter, more frequent visits and a step-up approach that adds overnight stays as the child grows. The statute also requires the court to issue a prospective order that automatically transitions to the Standard Possession Order when the child turns three, so a return trip to court is not necessarily required at that point.⁵ Reviewing the order around the third birthday is still worth doing.

50/50 Schedules Are Not the Default

Texas law does not mandate a 50/50 schedule. Courts can approve equal-time arrangements when both parents agree or when a judge finds it serves the child’s best interest, but any equal-time plan departs from the Standard Possession Order and needs either a written agreement or a court finding supporting the departure.

Common equal-time rotations:

Week on, week off, with parents swapping every Sunday. Easy to track, but the child goes a full week without seeing the other parent.
2-2-5, where one parent always has Monday and Tuesday, the other always has Wednesday and Thursday, and weekends alternate. The longest stretch away from either parent is five days.
2-2-3, similar to 2-2-5 but with weekday assignments also rotating, spreading time more evenly across all days of the week.

Equal-time schedules work best when both parents live close to each other and close to the child’s school. The more distance, the harder the rotation becomes. Family violence weighs heavily against these arrangements: a judge must consider evidence of domestic violence in any possession decision and can restrict or deny access when the evidence warrants it.⁶

Building the Actual Calendar

Every date in the Standard Possession Order keys off the school calendar. Spring break, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all start on “the day the child is dismissed from school.” End dates hinge on “the day before school resumes.” Without the district’s academic calendar, you can’t calculate your dates.

Your order also needs clear pick-up and drop-off locations. The school itself is the most common exchange point, especially under the expanded schedule. For times when school isn’t in session, name a residence or a specific public location. Ambiguity here is what fuels enforcement disputes later.

The Texas Office of the Attorney General publishes a printable “My Sticker Calendar” that maps the Standard Possession Order onto an actual calendar year, which many parents find useful for visualizing the schedule.³ It’s an information tool, not a court form.

Right of First Refusal

A right of first refusal clause requires the parent who has the child to offer the other parent care time before calling a babysitter, grandparent, or other caretaker. Texas doesn’t set a statutory time threshold for this. The trigger and the notice method get negotiated into the order, with common triggers being absences longer than four hours or any overnight absence. If you want this provision, write specific time thresholds and a notice method (text, phone call, or email) into the order. Vague language breeds arguments.

When a Child Is 12 or Older

If the child is at least 12, the court must interview the child privately in chambers on request of a party or the child’s attorney, to hear the child’s preferences about who should have the right to determine primary residence.⁷ A child younger than 12 may be interviewed at the court’s discretion. The child’s stated preference carries weight but does not control the outcome; a court can rule differently when other factors point elsewhere.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.312 – Parents Who Reside 100 Miles or Less Apart
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.313 – Parents Who Reside Over 100 Miles Apart
3
Texas Office of the Attorney General. Parenting Time Schedule
4
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.314 – Holiday Possession Unaffected by Distance Parents Reside Apart
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.254
6
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.004 – History of Domestic Violence or Sexual Abuse
7
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.009 – Interview of Child in Chambers