Utah Holiday Custody Schedule: The Complete Parent-Time Calendar

Holiday scheduling is the single most common source of co-parenting disputes in Utah — and the most preventable one. Utah Code § 81-9-302 spells out exactly which parent gets which holidays, what time the exchanges happen, and what takes priority when two events collide.

The problem is that most parents don't realize Utah uses a five-tier priority system. When Thanksgiving falls on a parent's regular weekend, the holiday overrides the weekend. When a child's birthday falls during summer vacation, the birthday overrides the summer block. Miss these rules, and you'll spend months arguing over a schedule the statute already resolved.

How Utah's Holiday Rotation Works

Utah alternates major holidays between parents based on odd and even years. The non-custodial parent (the parent with fewer than 111 overnights per year) receives specific holidays in specific years:

Odd years — the non-custodial parent gets:

• Human Rights Day (third Monday in January), 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
• Presidents' Day, Friday 5:30 PM through Monday 7:00 PM
• Fall school break
• Thanksgiving, Wednesday 5:30 PM through Sunday 7:00 PM

Even years — the non-custodial parent gets:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend
• Spring break
• Memorial Day weekend, Friday 5:30 PM through Monday 7:00 PM
• July 4th, 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM (or July 3 at 5:30 PM to July 5 at 11:00 PM if it falls on a weekend)
• Labor Day weekend, Friday 5:30 PM through Monday 7:00 PM

Christmas and Winter Break alternate differently: in even years, the non-custodial parent gets the first half (from the day school lets out through December 27 at 1:00 PM), and in odd years, the second half (December 27 at 1:00 PM through 7:00 PM the evening before school resumes).

The Five-Tier Priority System

This is where most parenting plans go wrong. When a holiday, birthday, and regular rotation all land on the same day, Utah law resolves the conflict with a strict hierarchy:

1. Mother's Day and Father's Day — absolute priority. The mother always gets Mother's Day from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, the father always gets Father's Day from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, regardless of whose weekend it is or whether it falls during summer vacation.

2. The child's birthday — overrides all holidays and regular rotations. The entitled parent (alternating by year) gets 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM. However, a birthday does not override uninterrupted summer travel if the traveling parent has already left with the child.

3. Alternating holidays — Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, and other designated holidays override regular weekend and weekday parent-time, plus extended summer blocks.

4. Extended summer parent-time — overrides the standard weekly rotation but yields to everything above.

5. Regular weekend and weekday rotation — the baseline schedule, active only when nothing higher-priority is scheduled.

Practical Scheduling Tips

Build your parenting plan's holiday section around these rules rather than trying to invent your own system. Courts expect plans that reference the statutory schedule, and creative alternatives that contradict § 81-9-302 are routinely rejected.

A few patterns that prevent disputes:

• Exchange at school, not at a parent's home. Drop the child off at school Monday morning instead of exchanging at a house Sunday evening. It eliminates direct parent contact during emotionally charged holiday transitions.
• Define "Thanksgiving" broadly. The statute gives Wednesday 5:30 PM through Sunday 7:00 PM, not just Thursday. Parents who assume "Thanksgiving" means Thursday afternoon create conflicts with the other parent's weekend rotation.
• Calendar the birthday exception early. Because the birthday override doesn't apply when the traveling parent is already away with the child during summer, both parents need to coordinate summer travel plans by April at the latest.

For the complete holiday matrix, overnight counting worksheets, and parenting plan templates that incorporate the five-tier priority system, the Utah Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide walks through every scenario with fillable planning tools.

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