01
The Number Of Weeks
How much summer time the visiting parent gets, stated as a specific number rather than left open.
Monday - Friday8:30AM - 5PM
OfficesFairfax | Manassas
Child Visitation / Summer Visitation
Summer Visitation · Virginia
The long break is where the deeper memories are made.
Summer changes everything. Two weeks, four weeks, or a larger share of the break gives you the kind of unhurried time that a string of weekends never can. We build a summer schedule that protects it and still works for everyone.
First call is a conversation, not a commitment.
The Short Answer
In summer the regular schedule usually changes. The non-primary parent commonly gets longer uninterrupted blocks, from two weeks to several weeks, and in some families the school-year arrangement flips so the visiting parent has the larger share. Those added overnights can push a parent past 91 a year, which changes the child support calculation.
How It Works
Unhurried time, by design.
During the school year, visitation is squeezed between homework, practices, and early bedtimes. Summer opens all of that up. With school out, there is room for the longer, slower kind of time that childhood memories are actually made of, a real trip, a week at the lake, an ordinary stretch of days that do not end with a Sunday goodbye. A good summer schedule is built to protect exactly that.
What summer schedules look like
Most orders shift the rhythm for summer. The visiting parent commonly takes one or more extended blocks, anywhere from two weeks to several weeks, sometimes split into two trips. In long-distance families, the visiting parent may have most of the summer, with the school-year pattern essentially reversed. The right shape depends on the child's age, the distance, and the work schedules on both sides.
How much summer time
There is no fixed number in Virginia. Two to six weeks is common, and it is set either by agreement or by the court under the best interests of the child standard. What matters is that the time is defined clearly: how many weeks, taken in what blocks, chosen by what date. Vague summer terms turn May into a yearly standoff over who gets which weeks.
The support effect
Summer blocks add overnights, and overnights drive child support. A parent who is just under 91 overnights during the school year can cross that line once a few summer weeks are added, and crossing it shifts the calculation to the shared custody formula under Va. Code § 20-108.2(G). It is worth running the overnight math before you finalize the summer plan, not after.
Camps, trips, and the other parent
A strong summer schedule plans for real life. It sets a deadline by which each parent names their vacation weeks, so trips do not collide. It coordinates camps so a child is not double-booked. And it usually preserves some contact for the other parent during a long block, a few calls or a weekend, so neither parent disappears for a month.
Typical shapeOne or more extended blocks for the visiting parent, two to several weeks.
Long distanceOften most of the summer, with the school-year pattern reversed.
How muchNo fixed number; set by agreement or court under best interests.
Support effectSummer overnights can push past 91 and change the calculation.
SourceBest interests, Va. Code § 20-124.3; overnight count, § 20-108.2(G).
Define It, Do Not Just Describe It
"Reasonable summer time" is where May arguments are born. Name the number of weeks, the blocks, and the deadline to choose them. Clear summer terms let a parent book a trip instead of starting a fight.
Source: Va. Code § 20-124.3
Corrie Sirkin, Esq.Founding Partner
Attorney Insight
A few honest things about summer time.
"Summer is where a long-distance parent stops being a voice on a phone and becomes a parent again. Protect it with real dates, not hopes."
Summer is the most valuable block of time a non-primary parent has, and it is the one people draft the most loosely. I have seen wonderful summers and I have seen two parents book the same two weeks in July and spend June in court over it. The fix is not complicated. Put a number on the weeks, set a date by which each parent chooses, keep a little contact for the other parent, and check what the added overnights do to support. Do that, and summer becomes the part of the year your child looks forward to instead of the part their parents dread.
Questions Parents Ask
Plain answers about summer visitation.
These are the questions parents ask most when we plan the summer. If yours is not here, we are happy to answer it directly.
Have a specific question?
Call 571.260.0999 or send us a message.
How does summer visitation work in Virginia?
The regular schedule usually changes in summer. With school out, the non-primary parent commonly gets longer uninterrupted blocks of time, anywhere from two weeks to several weeks.
In some families the school-year arrangement flips so the visiting parent has the larger share over the break.
How much summer time does the non-primary parent get?
It varies. Two to six weeks is common, often taken in one or two blocks. In long-distance cases the visiting parent may have most of the summer. The amount is set by agreement or by the court under the best interests of the child standard.
Do summer overnights affect child support?
They can. Summer blocks add overnights to the annual count, and combined with the regular schedule they can push a parent past 91 overnights a year, which is the line where Virginia switches to its shared custody support calculation under Virginia Code § 20-108.2(G).
How is summer scheduled around camps and vacations?
A good summer plan sets notice deadlines so each parent picks vacation weeks by a certain date, preserves some contact for the other parent during long blocks, and coordinates camps and activities in advance. Writing this out avoids the every-year scramble over who gets which weeks.
When You Are Ready
Let's protect the best weeks of the year.
Tell us about your summers, your travel, and the distance between homes, and we will build a summer schedule that holds up and gives your child the long, unhurried time that matters. Three offices across Northern Virginia, one phone number.