Holiday custody and visitation schedules in Nevada
In plain words: if there's a court order, it decides who has the children for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and it has to spell out exact times. If no court has ruled, both parents share custody equally until one does. Put any holiday swap in writing, and don't take the children out of state without the other parent's written consent or the court's permission.
Where you stand right now
- Follow the holiday terms exactly as written
- An order must state visitation in absolute terms, with all specific times, not "reasonable" (NRS 125C.010)
- A swap the two of you agree on is safest in writing, signed by both
- Each parent has joint legal and joint physical custody until a court orders otherwise (NRS 125C.0015)
- That's true whether or not the parents were married
- Hiding or taking the child to cut the other parent out is still a crime (NRS 200.359(2))
Unmarried parents and paternity
A court may give primary physical custody to the mother of a child born out of wedlock when the parents never married, no court has ruled on paternity, and the father isn't presumed to be the father, never acknowledged paternity, or knew and abandoned the child (NRS 125C.003(2)). If you're a father who wants holiday time, establishing paternity and getting an order is the first step.
Writing a holiday schedule that works
- Alternate each holiday by year: odd years with one parent, even years with the other
- Split the day: Christmas Eve to noon Christmas, then noon to the next morning
- Give Thanksgiving to one parent and Christmas to the other, swapping each year
- The exact start and end time and date of each holiday period
- Where the exchange happens and who drives
- That the holiday schedule overrides the regular week
- Winter break: which days, and travel notice
Why "reasonable holiday time" isn't enough
Nevada law requires a visitation order to define the right with enough particularity to be enforced. "Sufficient particularity" means the rights are stated in absolute terms, not with the word "reasonable" or anything else the parents could read differently (NRS 125C.010(2)). The same rule applies to an order giving a limited right of custody (NRS 125C.0045(5)). If your order says only "reasonable," you can ask the court to set exact holiday times.
If the other parent keeps the children on your holiday
- Same type and length as the visit you lost
- Taken within 1 year after the denied visit
- At a time you choose
- Written notice to the court and the other parent: at least 30 days ahead for a holiday or vacation, 7 days for a weekday or weekend
- A parent who ignores an order for a makeup visit can be found in contempt and jailed (NRS 125C.030)
- Willfully keeping or hiding a child against a custody order is a category D felony (NRS 200.359(1))
Holiday travel with the children
- If your order doesn't say when each parent has the child, taking the child out of the court's jurisdiction needs the consent of the court or of everyone with a right to custody or visitation (NRS 200.359(1)(b))
- Even when it's allowed, send the other parent the dates, address and a phone number in writing
- Moving out of state, or far enough to hurt the other parent's relationship, needs that parent's written consent or the court's permission first (NRS 125C.006, 125C.0065)
- Moving without it can be charged under NRS 200.359
Leaving to escape domestic violence
A parent with joint custody who removes the child can raise as a defense that it was to protect the child or themselves from domestic violence (NRS 200.359(2)). Get help with a protection order and tell the court right away.
Changing the order
- The court may change a custody order at any time while the child is a minor (NRS 125C.0045(1))
- Joint custody can be changed if the child's best interest requires it (NRS 125C.0045(2))
- You may file without a lawyer (NRS 125C.0045(4))
- Family Law Self-Help Center for forms
- Free legal help in Clark County
- Starting from a divorce: divorce in Nevada
Read 2026-11-05 from Nevada Revised Statutes on this house's law shelf: NRS 125C.0015, 125C.003, 125C.0045, 125C.006, 125C.0065, 125C.010, 125C.020 and 125C.030 (chapter 125C, Rev. 9/9/2026); NRS 200.359 (chapter 200, Rev. 9/9/2026).