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CustodyPlan

Visitation Schedule Maker

Build a visitation schedule on a calendar and find out what it really adds up to. Most parents are surprised by the actual percentage.

Build your visitation schedule

Start with alternating weekends and add nights until the split is where you want it. The percentage updates as you go.

Schedule pattern

Majority time

The children live primarily with one parent and spend Friday and Saturday nights with the other parent every second weekend.

January 2026

  • Parent A
  • Parent B

Tap any night to switch parents.

A visitation schedule sets out when children spend time with the parent they don't primarily live with. Many states have replaced the word. Arizona and Illinois say parenting time, Florida says time-sharing, and Texas says possession and access. The arrangement is the same.

The single most useful thing this tool does is show you the real number. A plain every-other-weekend schedule sounds substantial and comes out at 14% of overnights. Extend it through Sunday night and it's 21%. Add a midweek overnight and it's 29%. Those are very different arrangements described by very similar sentences.

Build the schedule below and read the percentage before you agree to anything.

The standard visitation patterns

Almost every visitation order is one of these, or one of these plus holidays.

  • Alternating weekends, Friday through Sunday evening, 2 nights every two weeks, 86/14
  • Extended alternating weekends, Friday through Monday morning, 3 nights, 79/21
  • Alternating weekends plus a weekly midweek overnight, 4 nights, 71/29
  • Every weekend, 2 nights a week, 71/29 with a different rhythm
  • 4-3, four nights and three nights weekly, 57/43, close to equal

How much holidays change the total

At the lower end of the scale, holidays are a large fraction of the year. A parent on a plain alternating-weekend schedule has 52 overnights from the regular rotation. A standard alternating holiday rotation plus two weeks of summer can add 20 or more, a 40% increase on the base figure.

Switch the holiday rotation on in the tool to see what your arrangement really comes to across a full year, rather than what the regular pattern alone suggests.

Asking for more time

The most effective way to increase parenting time is to propose something specific and workable rather than asking for 'more'. A concrete change is easy to say yes to; an abstract request invites an argument.

The three changes that are usually easiest to agree, in order: keeping the children Sunday night and doing the Monday school drop-off, adding one midweek overnight, and taking a larger share of the school holidays. Each is a small change to the same pattern, and each moves the annual percentage meaningfully.

Writing it so it can be enforced

A visitation schedule is only as good as its detail. Name the weekends by their position in the rotation and give a start date, so 'alternating' has a reference point. Write clock times, not 'after school'. Say where exchanges happen and who drives.

Then set out the holiday rotation separately, state that it overrides the regular schedule, and name the year the rotation begins.

Common questions

What is a standard visitation schedule?
Alternating weekends with the non-primary parent, often extended through Sunday night, plus an alternating holiday rotation and a share of the summer. Several states publish their own default schedule that applies where the parents have not agreed on something more specific.
What percentage of time is every other weekend?
Two nights out of every fourteen, 14% of overnights, or 52 nights a year, before holidays are added.
How can I get more visitation time?
Propose a specific change rather than a general request. Keeping the children Sunday night, adding a midweek overnight, or taking a larger share of school holidays are the three that are usually easiest to agree, and each one moves the annual percentage.
Is visitation the same as parenting time?
Effectively yes. Many states have replaced 'visitation' with 'parenting time' or 'time-sharing' in their statutes, partly because 'visitation' understates what the arrangement is. The mechanics are the same.
Do daytime visits count toward the percentage?
Not in most states' calculations, which are based on overnights. A midweek dinner maintains contact but doesn't change the number.

Document preparation only: not legal advice. Not affiliated with any court.