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Senate advances default holiday schedule for parents amid criticism it may reopen divorce cases
Summary
First Substitute House Bill 26, setting an alternating default for Halloween and Valentine’s Day between custodial and noncustodial parents, passed to third reading after floor debate; opponents said mandating holidays risks reopening past divorce cases and harming children.
The Utah Senate advanced First Substitute House Bill 26 to the third-reading calendar after floor debate on Feb. 17.
Sponsor Senator Bell said the bill creates a simple default for holiday parenting time when parents cannot agree: noncustodial parents get Halloween one year and the custodial parent gets Valentine’s Day that year, with the pattern alternating the next year. "The principle of the bill is that we're now saying as part of the default provision ... the noncustodial parent gets Halloween one year, the custodial parent gets Valentine's Day during that same year, and vice versa in the next year," Bell said.
Senator Hilliard opposed the measure, warning it could "open wounds" by prompting divorcing parties to revisit prior custody cases and said mandating holiday schedules might ‘‘cause mischief’’ and harm children who prefer to spend Halloween with friends. He urged the Senate to leave such allocations to parents or courts handling difficult cases.
Senator Arendt, who noted the bill had interim and committee review and reported unanimous committee support earlier in the process, defended the measure as a default used only when parties cannot agree.
After floor discussion the first substitute passed the Senate roll call and was placed on the third-reading calendar (20 ayes, 9 nays recorded in floor action).
Next steps: the bill will appear on third reading where the Senate will vote on final passage.
