When you have a final placement order, it is important to include the day-to-day placement schedule and a holiday placement schedule. The reason to have these specific placement schedules included in your order, is so that if there is ever a dispute between the parents, you have a fall-back to resolve the issue (hopefully) outside of court. Parents do not need to follow the placement schedules to a “T” if they agree to work out other agreements here and there—in fact, some parents never actually look at their holiday placement schedule, for example—but it’s wise to have the fall-back just in case working together stops working. It is important to include start and end times for placement so that there are no misunderstandings about who is responsible for the children during what times. For example, if one placement parent’s time ends at 8:00 a.m. and school is closed early due to bad weather, then the other parent would be responsible for the children as of 8:00 a.m. that day, so the other parent needs to make arrangements to pick up the children early from school.
Specific start and end times for holiday schedules are important for the same reason. Parents seeking to avoid misunderstandings and disagreements should specify as much as possible in their written orders.