If you cannot agree to a custody schedule during your divorce, you should know that the State of Utah allows for the court to establish a minimum parent-time arrangement for the noncustodial parent.
Minimum parent-time scheduling is set by the Utah Code to make it easier to establish custody in cases when it may be otherwise difficult to do so. It makes guidelines that a judge may easily follow.
What should you expect if the court establishes minimum parenting time rules?
This schedule is different for children under five, but for those between five and 18, there are specific rules that will need to be followed.
With the minimum parent-time arrangement, at least one weekday evening is given to the noncustodial parent from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. If the parents can’t decide which day to hold this visitation, it will be a Wednesday.
The court may also establish at least one day where the noncustodial parent gets custody of their child from the normal dismissal of school until 8:30 p.m. or, when school isn’t in session, one weekday visit from 9 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.
The court may also establish alternating weekends from 6 p.m. on Fridays until 7 p.m. on Sundays. Weekends may also include school snow days, days when school’s not in session and are contiguous with the weekend and so on.
These are just a few of the rules currently set for minimum parent-time standards.
What can you do if you don’t agree with the minimum parent-time standards?
It’s possible that you won’t agree with these standards. You may feel the other parent needs more time with your children or that the arrangements aren’t right for you based on your work schedule.
The best thing that you and the other parent can do is work out a custody schedule that you both do agree on. If you can’t do that, then the court will step in to make sure that there is an established custody schedule that both of you will need to adhere to. This might be less flexible than your own custody schedule, so consider negotiating before heading to court.