Indiana · Guide
Holidays under the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
Last reviewed on October 1, 2026
The Guidelines' holiday schedule overrides the regular schedule, alternates most holidays by odd and even year, and splits the winter break in halves.
Holidays come first
The Holiday Parenting Time Schedule shall take precedence over regularly scheduled and extended parenting time.
A holiday can move the weekends
If a parent misses a regular weekend because it is the other parent's holiday, it will be lost. If a parent receives two consecutive weekends because of a holiday, that parent shall have the third weekend also.
Odd and even years
Most holidays alternate by year. Thanksgiving, for example, runs "From 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday until 6:00 P.M. on Sunday", with the noncustodial parent in even-numbered years and the custodial parent in odd-numbered years. Spring Break, Easter, the Fourth of July, Fall Break and Halloween go the other way round.
The winter break
Each party will receive one half (1/2) of the total days of the Christmas vacation, on an alternating basis …
The parent without Christmas Day in a given year still has part of it: "In those years when Christmas does not fall in a parent's week, that parent shall have the child from Noon to 9:00 P.M. on Christmas Day."
New Year's is not a holiday of its own: "New Year's Eve and New Year's Day shall not be considered separate holidays under the Parenting Time Guidelines."