As a reminder, if you are the non-primary parent/possessory conservator, then you must submit, in writing, the dates that you wish to have extended summer possession with the child by April 1 every year. Failure to submit your desired dates on or before April 1 of each year may result in you having no choice regarding your extended summer possession in a given year.
Under a Texas Standard Possession Schedule, the non-primary/possessory conservator may select 30 days for purposes of his/her summer possession, which can be split up into a maximum of two periods of at least 7 days each. These dates also cannot interfere with the other parent’s Mother’s Day or Father’s Day weekend periods of possession. Keep in mind that under a Texas Standard Possession Schedule, the non-primary conservator will continue to exercise their 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends of the month in addition to the 30 days of extended summer possession during the summer.
If you are the custodial parent/primary conservator, then you must submit, in writing, the dates that you wish to have extended summer possession with the child by April 15 every year. Under a Texas Standard Possession Schedule, the primary conservator is entitled to select (1) weekend from the dates that the other parent has designated as his or her 30 days of extended summer possession (submitted by April 1). Said weekend possession shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and end at 6:00 p.m. on the following Sunday during the 30 days of extended summer possession selected by the non-primary parent. Additionally, the primary conservator gets to select (1) weekend that would otherwise be the other parents regular weekend possession during the summer (1st, 3rd, or 5th weekend) by April 15 of each year and/or by providing 14 days’ written notice to the other parent.
The purpose of the April 1 and April 15 deadlines is to provide the non-primary parent the right each year to select his/her dates for their extended summer possession before the primary conservator selects their weekend from these dates.
Therefore, the primary conservator cannot require the non-primary conservator to select different dates for their extended summer possession (unless they have selected Mother’s Day/Father’s Day weekend). However, the primary conservator can select 1 weekend during this 30-day period to exercise his or her extended summer possession as discussed above in paragraph 3. Therefore, regardless of whether you are the primary or non-primary conservator, you should always wait until after the April 1 and April 15 designation deadlines to plan those summer vacations.