The Holiday Season can be the busiest time of the year for a Family Law Attorney; parents want to make sure that they see their minor children from their ex=spouse and get orders to make sure that happens. In the past, Courts were more inclined to issue orders for holiday visitation on an ex parte basis. What this means is that the Court would issue orders without the formal notice of 16 court days and issue those orders the following day or on shorten notice. Given budget constraints, unless it is a real emergency where a child will be physically hurt or removed from the State of California without a court order or the other parents written permission a Court will not issue orders on an ex parte basis for child custody/visitation matters as they did in the past

What this means is that if a parent wants to exercise holiday visitation and they already have a court order they should do the following:

1). They should follow the order exactly, i.e. give notice that you are exercising holiday visitation time (in writing, i.e. email, certified mail return receipt or better, send notice both ways so there is not question that they received proper notice); and

2). If they do not have a court order for specific holiday visitation; they should request visitation from their ex-spouse in writing and if they do not agree file a Request for Order on regular notice, so the court will have to make an order