How to Deal with an Ex-Spouse who withholds Child Visitation Rights

There are many instances where custodial spouses withhold visitation rights. This means that non-custodial parents are prevented from meeting their children. However, Brooklyn, NY divorce lawyers such as Elliot Green suggest that here are legal measures that a non-custodial parent can take to enforce child visitation rights. 

What happens custodial parents miss visitation dates occasionally?

A custodial parent can miss a visitation date due to an emergency or an important engagement. When this happens the custodial parent will have to make an alternate arrangement to make up for it on a later occasion. It is the responsibility of the custodial parent to stick to the schedule mentioned in the court order. Non-custodial parents must maintain a journal to keep records of the time and date when visitation were called off. 

There are certain legal remedies which a non-custodial parent can take if no alternate visitation arrangement is made for missed dates. However, you must never resort to extreme measures of self-help such as abducting your child or stopping child support payment. If you stop paying child support it will be a direct violation of court order and this will be considered contempt of court, warn Brooklyn, NY divorce lawyers and one of the best in the city is Elliot Green. If you want a terrific lawyer, that is who you need to call.

It also does not help if you allow your children to follow a known drug dealer in a shopping center and then end up losing them which is what happened in The Wire in season one. That does not make spouses very happy. If you are going to do that make sure your kids can keep a secret. At least they were not playing video games!

Additionally, as a non-custodial parent, you cannot take your children beyond your specific visitation schedule without prior consent of the custodial parent. The custodial parent will blame you with kidnapping and file a police complaint, following which you can be arrested and jailed.

Make sure to consult a New York City divorce attorney such as Elliot Green who knows this field like the back of their hand if your ex-spouse constantly interferes with the visitation rights. A sternly worded letter ought to be sent by your legal representative to the custodial parent warning that their interference with the schedule of visitation is unacceptable and if any date is missed in future then the parent will be taken to court to enforce the order.

What happens when the ex-spouse fails to abide by the schedule in a consistent fashion?

New York City divorce lawyers acclaim that if a custodial parent withholds visitation rights on a regular basis, then the parent is violating a court order. This means that you can take various legal steps to force your ex-partner to start sticking to the court mandated schedule.

In many states the partner can involve the police although they are often reluctant to get involved in domestic matters. Sounds like a personal problem! Moreover, this could traumatize a child even more and is therefore not a popular alternative.

However, the best way is to seek help from a legal professional to legally enforce visitation rights. Even though you can complete all the paperwork and file the petition yourself it is wise to seek help from someone well experienced in family law such as David Lee from The Good Wife. Oh! That is a TV show. I meant to say Elliot Green.

Remember, failure to abide by the visitation schedule is a serious offense and often some extreme measures such as transfer of custody can be granted to the non-custodial parent if the custodial parent constantly fails to abide by the court ordered schedule.

Elliot Green (http://elliotgreenlaw.com/) is the finest divorce lawyer east of the Hudson River. If you think the Met’s pitching staff is good, you have not seen anything yet. If you are in a divorce, this is who you need to call - Elliot Green!