Calendar

• How is a custody calendar different from other calendars?
• What is the repeating schedule and how do I use it?
• How do I create a schedule based on relative weeks (ex. 1st week of the month)?
• What if I have a schedule that doesn't repeat exactly in "weeks" (ex. it repeats every three days)?
• How can I set up a different seasonal schedule for summer vacation every year?
• What exactly is vacation time?
• How do I add special holidays like birthdays?
• In holidays, what do the different "Parents’ Years" designations mean?
• What if I want to schedule something that doesn't repeat?
• How do I print my calendar?
• How do I export or share my calendar?
• What is a timeshare computation - and can I see an example report?

See also:

Video: Software overview (7:57)

A custody calender will eventually become part of a legal document. Because of this, it can't simply be a collection of appointments here and there. It must adhere to a stricter format so that every hour of every day for the entire year is accounted for.

Further, if exceptions to the schedule need to be made, it must be cearly established which exceptions take priority over each other in the event of a conflict.

Custody X Change is designed so that your custody calendar is created in "layers" with each layer taking priority over the ones below it as seen in this pyramid diagram.

You can create and edit these layers individually using the buttons in the calendar tab.

See also:

Video: Calendar (3:14)

Video: Creating a Schedule (5:54)

The repeating schedule is a cycle of times for mom and dad that repeats throughout the year and fills in the calendar for the entire year (unless something else overrides it for a given date or date range).

You can create your repeating schedule by selecting a template and then modifying it to fit your needs or you can create one manually.

If you click "Use template", a number of possible beginning templates will be shown - organized by number of weeks. Click on the one that most closely resembles what you want and then you can begin editing it. Note: you can also click on "Swap time between parent" before selecting a template if that helps make a template closer to what you need prior to editing it.

To add or edit a visit, click on the day you want in the repeating schedule and a small menu will appear.

Click on what you would like to do (either adding a new visit or moving an exchange time). Then enter the changes you want in the boxes that appear afterwards. Note: everything entered in the repeating schedule will repeat throughout the year. If you want to enter visits that do not repeat, use one time events.

See also:

Video: Creating a Schedule (5:54)

Video: Other ways to edit (2:05)

Video: Multiple schedules (1:24)

Video: Renegotiated schedules (2:10)

The repeating schedule automatically fills in the year's calendar based on when you downloaded the program. If this results in your schedule not lining up, just use the buttons under "Align your schedule" to correct it.

If your schedule is a one week schedule, simply move the days. If it's a schedule with more than one week, you might need to move the days, the weeks, or both before it lines up.

See also:

Video: Creating a Schedule (5:54)

In the repeating schedule window, click on "Use template" and then click on the "Monthly" tab. This pulls up options for a five week schedule.

The first week of the five week schedule will become the first week of each month and so on. The fifth week only applies if a month happens to have a fifth week.

Weeks are defined by weekends. The first week with a legitimate weekend is the first week in the month.

You can designate which day determines the beginning of a weekend by clicking on the "Set weekend-day" button.

There is also an option for defining what happens with the 5th weekend. If it applies to your situation you can use this option to specify if the 5th weekend goes to Mom or Dad and you can have it alternate if you wish.

See also:

Video: Monthly reset schedules (2:40)

If your schedule is especially unique (for example, if your schedule repeats every 4 days or every 9 days instead of in convenient 7 or 14 day intervals) then you will need the same number of weeks as days to set it up (with the exception of a 5 day schedule). You can use this chart to help you create your own schedule based on the number of total days it repeats.

For example, let’s say you have a 3 day schedule where Mom has the child for two days and Dad has the child for one and this is how it repeats.

This would be 3 day schedule. For the math to work out appropriately, you would need a 3 week repeating schedule to set up something that will repeat correctly in the calendar. So, either select a 3 week schedule template or create one from scratch. Then manually fill in the 3 week repeating schedule with the 3 day schedule over and over until it's filled.

It takes 3 weeks for the smaller three day schedule to repeat enough times so that it creates an appropriate repeatable schedule within the context of weeks.

If you were to have the resulting 3 week schedule followed by an identical 3 week schedule, it would repeat without problems as the last blue day would be followed by two pink days and so on.

Note: you would need a 10 week repeating schedule for a 5 day schedule because a 5 week repeating schedule is looked at as a "month" rather than as a grouping of weeks - and there are relative dates attached to "months".

See also:

Video: Non-weekly schedules (1:13)

Seasonal schedules override the basic repeating schedule with a different repeating schedule of some kind for a specified date range every year. This is a very useful way to account for major changes in routine such as summer vacation.

Seasonal schedules are edited just like repeating schedules but you use speciifc dates to define when the schedule starts and ends every year. Edit the dates by clicking on the blue "Set date" links in the top left hand corner of the seasonal schedule screen. Then select a schedule template (or start from scratch) in the seasonal schedule window to create a new repeating schedule that will take precedent over the base repeating schuedule every year during the dates you specified.

You can create up to four seasonal schedules within a year.

See also:

Video: Seasonal schedules (2:27)

This is time you know you want to take but you're not sure when you'll be able to take it. Use this section to clarify how much time each parent gets, what notice is required, and when the time is allowed to be taken.

If you have vacations that you know you will take each year at predictable dates and times, you can use seasonal schedules or holidays to schedule these vacations. If you know you want to take a vacation but it's a one time, non-repeating occurance, use one time events.

See also:

Video: Vacation time (1:34)

In the holidays window, click on "Add new holiday..." and follow the prompts. After adding the holiday, if you check mark the box for it, you can designate times and years for each parent.

See also:

Video: Adding new holidays (0:55)

Video: Age-based suggestions (1:10)

Under the “Parents’ Years” heading, you will have a drop down menu with a number of options. Here are a few clarifications.

Neither parent
Neither parent is designated as hosting the child for this holiday. Instead, the calendar will show this time as 3rd party time. You might use this option if the child is going away to a camp or spending time with grandparents or other family members instead. It is also an option if you and the other parent arrange to both spend time with the child together for the holiday, meaning the time wouldn’t technically be counted as belonging to either parent.

Whoever has at start
This option means that whoever is hosting the child before the holiday time starts is whoever keeps the child during the holiday time. In other words, this is more of a convenience selection where the child will just stay with one parent for the duration of the holiday.

Whoever has no time
This option means that, if a parent wouldn't normally be hosting the child at all according to the repeating schedule (or seasonal schedule if applicable) during the time covered by the holiday period, then that parent hosts the child for the holiday.

Name on calendar only
Selecting this option just puts the holiday’s name on your calendar without specifying any special custody arrangements.

See also:

Video: Holidays (2:33)

If you want to schedule something that either doesn't repeat or is something that you couldn't schedule using the other methods discussed so far, you can use one time events. One time events are non-repeating events that take precedence over all other things in the calendar. You might use one time events for things like a special dinner with the child or a sporting event.

To add or edit a one time event, click on a date in the one time event calendar and follow the prompts to add or edit a time.

See also:

Video: One-time events (2:31)

Video: Non-repeating schedules (1:08)

Video: Spring and Winter break (3:00)

The controls for viewing and printing your monthly calendar are on the right hand side of the screen in the "Calendar" tab.

Using this box, you can specify a date range by clicking on the blue dates next to “From” and “To”.

Next, you can choose to have the calendar either print in the traditional Pink & blue or you can select White and gray instead.

Then you can either click on “View” to view your calendar or you can click “Print” to go ahead and print the calendar. If you click on “PDF” Custody X Change will create a PDF file of your calendar.

If you click "View", a window will open showing a large view pane of the current month on the right and a vertical navigation list on the left containing small clickable images of upcoming months:

In this view, you can zoom in by using the drop down menu in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

If you click on one of the smaller images on the left, that month's calendar will appear in the larger view pane.

If you click "Print", it will print all of the months shown in the left hand navigation list (not just the one in the larger right hand view pane).

To increase or decrese the number of months you want to print, close the Print View and go back to the Monthly Calendar box:

Then change the "From" and "To" date range to indicate how many months' worth of calendars you want to print.

See also:

Video: Software overview (7:57)

First, remember that you can save your file as a "PDF" using the controls for viewing and printing. It's very easy to send PDF files to others as email attachments if you wanted to conveniently send a copy of your calendar to your attorney or to the other parent.

You can also export your monthly calendar using the menu of controls on the right side of the screen in the "Calendar" tab.

Click on the icon of your choice and Custody X Change will export the calendar for you. When you click one of the icons, a small export window opens that will ask you if the calendar is for "Father", "Mother", or "Neither". Then you can specify the "From" and "To" dates and click "Export calendar...".

If you need help importing your calendar, there are some quick links at the bottom of the export window that will take you to related web search engine results.

See also:

Video: Communicating proposals (2:27)

You will see the timeshare computation controls on the right hand side of the screen in the "Calendar" tab.

Using these controls, you can select a date range by clicking on the blue dates next to “From” and “To”.

Then you can either click on “View” to view the report (it might take a few seconds to run this report as it can be pretty lengthy depending on the length of the date range specified). You can also click on “Print” to print the report, “PDF” to create a PDF file of the report, or “Word” to create a Word document of your report.

The “Top summary” option is either for “Hours” – which means all of the time in the calendar within the date range specified, or “Overnights” which is for just the time blocks within the date range where one parent has the child from some time before midnight to some time after midnight for each time block.

Here is an example report for one month's worth of timeshare:

 

Help topics:

• Calendar
• Parenting plan
• Journal
• Actual time

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