Fathers Custody Rights – What Does Visitation Rights Mean?

Author: Tyler Rocha, September 16th, 2009

If you and your partner are getting a divorce or just separating and there are children involved the most important task ahead of you is to make a decisionabout issues such as custody and visitation. Divorce breaks the ties between husband and wife, custody splits the ties of parenting. It is imperative for each parent to understand that a child has a right to a continuing relationship with both parents.

Despite the fact that the trend is changing, it is true that the typical judicial attitude towards custody most often favors women. Many judges still feel that women are naturally better at mothering than fathers are at fathering, and these judges will always show a bias towards the mother. Nevertheless, modern attitudes are changing and fathers are starting to have a parenting role. When a father has been given visitation rights these rights must not be interfered with.

Ideally, both parents should work together to make sure that the children get to spend the most time possible with each parent. Unfortunately, all too often this ends up with very little visitation time with the non-custodial parent, and frequent bitter arguments over missed visits and inconvenience. To avoid such problems, many judges now prefer the parents to devise a rather detailed custody schedule (known as a parenting agreement or parenting plan) which consists of a specific visitation schedule and also specifies who has responsibility for both the daily decisions and major decisions concerning the welfare of the children.

If you have agreed on a parenting plan which has been ratified by the court in the final custody decision then you already have a visitation schedule that can be enforced by law. Although it is reasonable that there may be various times that visitation time might need to be adapted, such as sickness, appointments, special occasions etc. regular interference with visitation may even be used as an argument that there is a change in circumstances which can lead to a modification of the custody schedule. In some states it can even be grounds for giving custody to the parent who has had their visitation rights interfered with.

Visitation schedules are often established as a test period. Either spouse does not know what the future will hold as far as how their parent child relationship will develop. Typically visitation schedules do change and it can often be modified without the use of the court. If one parent, however, later reneges on the agreement, it may be difficult for the other parent to enforce the modified agreement because it hasn’t been ratified by the court. So please be sure to get any modifications to the parenting plan court approved.

If you are the non custodial parent make sure your parenting plan is very precise and detailed in when, where, and how you are allowed to spend time with your children. It is considered a crime in most states to interfere with custody and visitation rights. This is a crime commonly known as “custodial interference”. Depending on the state, parents can actually sue the other person for damages if their custody rights are interfered with, as well as get help from law enforcement.

A common trap that many fathers fall into is not paying child support because the mother is stopping them from spending time with the children. Please don’t confuse custody and visitation with child support. No matter what the circumstances, you must always pay child support. You may face heavy penalties for failing to meet your obligations. Every parent has the duty to support their children.

A major study identified a revealing connection between custody and visitation schedules, the amount of antagonism between parents and the payment of court-ordered child support. Fathers were more likely to keep up with paying child support when they had regular and frequent daytime and overnight visits with their children. , the less likely they were to keep paying child support.

In many cases, one parent may use visitation as a tool to spite the other parent. Even the smallest detail, such as transportation, can be utilized as a manipulative weapon. Visit Child Custody Information for detailed information on how child custody schedules can protect your visitation rights.

Categories: Relationships Tags: child custody, child custody information, child custody visitation, divorce, legal, parenting, post divorce, Relationships