Visitation Rights

During a divorce in which children are involved, parents must always make decisions on child custody and visitation. Most often, one parent receives legal custody of the children and the other parent receives visitation rights. Visitation rights are essential if a non-custodial parent wants to see his or her child. The visitation rules are decided when the court decides on joint physical custody.

About the Different Types of Visitation

Under the allowances of reasonable visitation, the schedule is more flexible and open-ended. The parents work together to find times and places to meet with the children at times that are conducive to all the schedules involved. This option is obviously more convenient for every party involved. However, if one of the parents does not communicate clearly, honestly or reasonably, reasonable visitation may be impossible.

Other types of visitation include fixed visitation and supervised visitation. Fixed visitation is much more rigid than reasonable visitation. The non-custodial parent can only see the children at specific times and places which are determined by a court judge. For supervised visitation, an adult must be present at all times during the visit with the children and the non-custodial parent. The adult cannot be the main caregiver of the children, and the judge must endorse the adult as a suitable supervisor.

Custodial Modification

There may come a point when the parents want to change their custody or visitation laws. Should this occur, even though it is not legally necessary, it is best to get court approval in case one of the parents is unwilling to cooperate later. In that situation, nothing can be done since the court did not legally modify the orders. Therefore, if the parents want to modify the orders, they may pursue stipulated modification. Sometimes one parent may desire stipulated modification against the wishes of the other parent. In that case, the parent desiring the change must be able to give true, objective evidence for its necessity. Since this can be a difficult process, most couples try to settle at the onset on custody and visitation rules.

To find a visitation lawyer, please click here.