Thanksgiving and winter break — who gets the kids under your Arizona parenting plan?

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, and winter break follows close behind. For co-parents, that means one question shows up every year: whose turn is it?

Your plan is supposed to answer this

Under A.R.S. § 25-403.02(C), every Arizona parenting plan must include a practical schedule of parenting time — and that schedule must cover holidays and school vacations. Plans must also address how exchanges happen and how the parents will resolve disputes.

So the first step is simple: get out your current order and read it closely.

• Does it name Thanksgiving and winter break specifically?
• Does it say what time the holiday starts and ends?
• Does it say whether holidays override the regular weekly schedule?
• Does it alternate years — and which parent has odd or even years?

There’s no automatic “default” schedule

Arizona law doesn’t impose a one-size-fits-all holiday rotation. And under § 25-403.02(E), joint legal decision-making doesn’t automatically mean equal parenting time. What controls is what’s written in your order.

If your order is silent or vague, the court’s own guide — “Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart” — is the best reference for what courts consider workable, age-appropriate schedules. AZ Court Help also publishes example plans with holiday provisions.

Common holiday setups

Approach	How it works	Works best when
Alternating years	Parent A has Thanksgiving in even years, Parent B in odd	Parents live far apart
Split the day	Morning with one parent, evening with the other	Short drive between homes
Split the break	Winter break divided at a fixed midpoint	Kids are school-age
Fixed holidays	Each parent “owns” certain holidays every year	Different family traditions

Put exact times in writing — “Thanksgiving Day” means different things to different people. “Wednesday 6 p.m. to Friday 6 p.m.” doesn’t.

If your co-parent won’t follow the order

Try to resolve it in writing first, and keep a record. If that fails, Arizona has a formal enforcement process. Since January 1, 2026, filing a petition to enforce parenting time sets an initial conference with the court — a faster first look than waiting for a full hearing.

Two cautions:

• Don’t self-help. Withholding the kids, or keeping them past your time, can hurt you in later proceedings.
• Holidays come fast. If you need a change before Thanksgiving, start now — courts can’t always move quickly enough for a date that’s weeks away.

When to call an attorney

If your plan is unclear, if you need to change it before the holidays, or if your co-parent has repeatedly ignored it, a family-law attorney can tell you whether to pursue enforcement, a modification, or a written agreement you both sign.

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