In 2010, both the Fourth of July holiday and the Utah Pioneer Day holiday, on July 24th, fall on the weekend but courts and some places of business are closed on July 5th and July 23rd because of these holidays. This is enough to cause parents to argue about what the holiday actually means when they look at their parent-time.
All we can do is direct parents to Utah Code Annotated Section 30-3-35 (2)(e), which reads as follows:
(i) If a holiday falls on a weekend or on a Friday or Monday and the total holiday period extends beyond that time so that the child is free from school and the parent is free from work, the [noncustodial] parent [who is exercising parent-time] shall be entitled to this lengthier holiday period.
(ii) (A) At the election of the [noncustodial] parent [who is exercising parent-time], parent-time over a scheduled holiday weekend may begin from the time the child’s school is regularly dismissed at the beginning of the holiday weekend until 7 p.m. on the last day of the holiday weekend; or
(B) at the election of the [noncustodial] parent [who is exercising parent-time], if school is not in session, parent-time over a scheduled holiday weekend may begin at approximately 9 a.m., accommodating the [custodial] [other] parent’s work schedule, the first day of the holiday weekend until 7 p.m. on the last day of the holiday weekend, if the [noncustodial] parent is available to be with the child unless the court directs the application of Subsection (2)(e)(ii)(A).
So, it depends. If the child’s school has already been dismissed for the summer, it sounds to me like the first parent-time possibility depends on whether the parent is free from work on the 5th and 23rd. If so, that parent has an ARGUABLE position for time extending from the 9:00 a.m. from the first day of the holiday (the 3rd of July and the 23rd of July) and ending on the last day of the holiday which would be 7:00 p.m (5th of July and 25th of July). However, it is certainly NOT clear by the code and is only an argument that could reasonably be made based on the code language. Good luck!
