When a couple with children separates or divorces, the court issues a judge’s order that specifies each parent’s visitation and custody duties and liabilities. Unfortunately, parents occasionally refuse to let the other parent see the child during a visit, which is against the custody ruling. It can be incredibly upsetting and frustrating to be denied access to your child. If your co-parent is unlawfully withholding visits, understand your entitlements and what you may do to enforce them.
There is no legal justification for refusing to grant visitation in circumstances when a child is not at immediate risk of harm…
Introduction to Custody Proceedings
When divorcing, parents must make sure they have strategies in place for the custody and upbringing of the kids. If the parents choose not to litigate custody issues in the courtroom, they can come to an agreement on a parenting schedule using their own initiative or by using the assistance of a mediator. Parents’ out-of-court agreements regarding custody and visitation must always be presented to the judge for approbation and entry as an order. Once the arrangement is codified as an order, both parents can legally enforce it.
When parents are unable to come to an agreement, a judge will determine custody in accordance with what is best for the kid. Each parent is required to abide by the visitation schedule specified in the custody order once it has been issued by the court.
Is It Ever Acceptable To Refuse a Visitation?
A judge’s order for frequent and consistent visitation between a child and each parent is in the best interests of the child. The court order is broken when one parent chooses to refuse visitation.
Among the following are the reasons that are typically given by a parent who refuses to allow visitation:
- a desire to get revenge on the other ex-spouse for past behavior,
- out of resentment and fury over the divorce,
- when it comes to custody swaps, the other parent had not been punctual,
- the other parent has refused to allow visits,
- the child is not interested in going to see the parent they have been taken to,
- a lack of spousal or child support payments from the other parent,
- a perception that the other caregiver is unfit to raise the child (for instance, due to their other preoccupations in personal lives, such as the passion for gambling on sites at topcasinoexpert.com/country/belgium/ – which per se does not have to be a bad thing if a caregiver in question is a professional gambler who earns that way for a living).
However, none of these justifications is acceptable under the law to deny visitation.
A Strict Exception: Possibility of Imminent Child Harm
The basic rule that a caregiver cannot refuse visitation has one exception: in cases when a kid would be put in urgent danger if staying with the parent. When one parent shows up at the meeting location looking obviously intoxicated, for instance, the other parent may be justified in rejecting to let the child board a car with them.
Call the police if you think that your child is in jeopardy. In the aforementioned scenario, you are within your powers to notify the police when the other parent took your child without your will, threatened you or your child, or left the house while intoxicated (therefore endangering other people’s lives).
To show the judge the other parent’s severe and risky behavior after the risk of harm has gone, request a copy of the officer’s report.
Is the Possibility of Negligence or Abuse a Ground for Denying Visitation?
The majority of child abuse and neglect incidents do not happen in front of eyewitnesses. Unfortunately, you generally lack the legal justification (reason) to deny visitation except if your child is in danger that you are aware of or are watching (in whose case, call the police). Even if you have strong suspicions of abuse or neglect, you must follow the correct legal steps to establish why the other parent shouldn’t be permitted to see the child when there is no immediate danger.
The best action to take if you believe that the second parent is abusing or neglecting your child is to document the evidence of your suspicions. Once you have supporting documentation, you can ask the court to change the custody arrangement and issue a protective order (like a restraining order, a temporary one) preventing the ex-spouse from visiting the child. In order to safeguard their child as soon and efficiently as possible, many parents who find themselves in this difficult circumstance decide to seek assistance from a lawyer specialized in child custody or another knowledgeable resource.
What Do You Do If Your Ex Is Not Abiding by the Child Custody Agreement?
Visiting hours with the non-custodial parent should be made up if the custodial parent occasionally denies visitation. Your particular situation will determine how you make up missed visiting time.
For instance, a mother who is the primary caregiver may agree (without the intervention of the court) to designate the father with certain make-up visitation dates when she has kept the kid from the father. The father may need to take action to enforce the childcare order and secure make-up visitation if the mom is uncooperative. However, the father must never use self-help tactics to his advantage (such as refusing to pay child support or taking the child without consent).
The majority of the time, you should seek assistance from a local attorney whenever the other parent rejects to adhere to the visitation plan and refuses to arrange a make-up time. You can discuss the best strategy for enforcing the custody order with your lawyer.
Conflicts over custody are frequently settled in either of the two ways listed below:
- Mediation for child custody. You and your former partner could be able to settle matters through mediation, depending on the specifics. A skilled, impartial expert (referred to as a “mediator”) assists parents in child custody arbitration to resolve their differences without the assistance of the court. It should be noted that mediation could not be suitable if you yourself (or your youngster) are a victim of continuing domestic violence, psychological manipulation, or bullying committed by the other parent.
- Court involvement. The parent who is being barred from seeing their child may ask the court to adjust custody or issue a contempt petition (also known as an “Order to Show Cause”). The parent who is refusing visitation may be fined or even sent to jail if the judge considers them to be in contempt of court. The custody agreement might also be changed by the judge to increase the noncustodial parent’s visitation privileges.
Is a Child Custody Order Enforceable by the Police?
It may be alluring to contact the police if your ex is not abiding by the custody decree. However, unless your child’s urgent safety and well-being were in danger, it’s usually preferable to keep the police out of any custody disputes. The use of the police can make a problem worse than the parents might have been able to handle on their own and redirect their attention away from actual emergencies.
It may be alluring to contact the police if your ex is not abiding by the custody decree. However, unless your child’s urgent safety and well-being were in danger, it’s usually preferable to keep the police out of any custody disputes. The use of the police can make a problem worse than the parents might have been able to handle on their own and redirect their attention away from actual emergencies.
However, you should call the authorities if you believe the other parent has abducted your child and has no intention of returning (this is referred to as a parental kidnapping). Local police will collaborate with federal law enforcement, e.g. the FBI, to guarantee the return of your child if the other parent takes the child beyond state lines or outside the nation.
In addition to alerting public safety, you may well be able to ask the court in an emergency motion for urgent custody as well as a “pick-up order”, which would allow the police to implement the visitation order. Whenever you find yourself in this scenario, you should strongly think about hiring a lawyer. A lawyer can assist you in navigating the court system at this trying time and ensure that you appear before a judge as quickly as possible.
