Enforcing a Custody Order

Dealing with child custody, including legal custody and physical custody issues, can be emotionally charged. Some parents withhold visitation to get back at or make it harder to move forward after parting ways. With child custody orders, parents have the right to spend time with their children.

Your first step should be to try to communicate with the child’s other parent. You can avoid many disputes through communication and focusing on the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, parents cannot always resolve their issues and must go to family court to enforce the court order.

Child custody laws and family court rules are different for each state. If you have questions about enforcing a custody order, find a child custody attorney where you live for legal advice about your situation.

Right to Reasonable Visitation

When a couple splits up, both parents have the right to reasonable visitation. This requires you and your co-parent to be flexible and work together to create a workable custody agreement, including custody of the child and a parenting plan or visitation schedule, which works for both the parents and their child. Unfortunately, it can also lead to conflict for co-parents.

It can be frustrating if your co-parent prevents you from spending time with your child. Refusing to follow the court’s order and abide by the parenting plan interferes with your parental rights. You have options to enforce the court orders and see your children.

Sometimes, these issues with the parenting plan schedule may come from scheduling conflicts. Changing your job, moving out of state, or your child’s extracurricular activities may make it difficult to follow the old parenting plan. You can file a visitation modification request with the court to change the schedule based on changed circumstances.

What If a Child Doesn’t Want to Visit the Other Parent?

Sometimes, a child may say they do not want to visit you. This does not invalidate the visitation order or custody arrangements. The court approved the child custody agreement after evaluating the best interests of the child.

Your co-parent should not be turning your child against you or trying to get your child to refuse visitation. The custodial parent must ensure they follow the parenting plan, including visitation.

Do I Have To Pay Child Support if I Can’t See the Kids?

You may be tempted to withhold court-ordered child support from your co-parent if they are denying you access to your children, but this is usually not a good idea. The parent with primary physical custody can file a legal action against you for failure to pay child support. If you are being denied access to your child, take your child custody case to court.

Can I Deny Visitation if There Is No Court Order?

You may want to deny visitation to your co-parent if you don’t like the way they are helping to raise your child. However, if you worry about your child’s safety, take your court issues to the family court judge. If you deny visitation without court approval, your former spouse can take you to court to enforce their legal rights.

Can the Police Enforce a Custody Order?

Police are usually reluctant to involve themselves in child custody or visitation rights. However, if one parent or guardian repeatedly ignores a court order—law enforcement may get involved in family law cases to enforce the order.

Having the police enforce a court order should not be your first call. Police are not judges and likely do not know the nuances of your situation. Typically, all they will do is look at whatever the written court order says and instruct both parents to follow that and go to court if someone wants to change it. This isn’t helpful and can be stressful and damaging to your child. Imagine your child seeing the police show up when there is not a true emergency. This can create more drama and difficulty for your child as they have already seen their parents argue and fight.

It is usually better to document the disagreement by phone, text message, or other written avenue and contact your attorney as soon as possible so they can get you into court to address the issue with the judge.

If there is a true emergency, such as your co-parent shows up to pick up your child and is clearly under the influence or is being blatantly abusive and threatening to you or your child, then the police can be of assistance and handle the infraction.

Court Enforcement of Custody Orders

If your co-parent is still unwilling to work with you and is refusing your visitation rights, it may be time to turn to the court system to enforce the visitation order. Since a visitation order from the court is legally binding, the court can hold your co-parent accountable for any custody violations.

You can turn to an attorney for assistance. Your lawyer can file the proper paperwork with the court and request the court to enforce the visitation order.

Penalties for Violating Visitation Orders

Violating a court order for visitation may have some severe consequences. The parent withholding the child may be in contempt of court and ordered to reimburse you for your attorney fees. In some more extreme cases, they can even face jail time. If you have questions about the civil and criminal penalties for violating custody orders, talk to your child custody attorney about your parental rights.

Increasing Visitation and Child Custody

One parent withholding visitation and parenting time from the other parent can be the beginning of a larger issue. Extreme cases may even lead to jail time for a co-parent withholding visitation. This may cause you to consider modifying visitation or even pursuing a partial or complete child custody modification to increase your involvement in your child’s life and ensure their well-being. If you pursue a modification, consider how it may impact child support issues.

If this is an avenue you are considering pursuing, your attorney can explain the process of revisiting child custody and guide you through the process. The court aims to protect the child’s best interests, so any harmful or unhealthy changes in the child’s life with the custodial parent may indicate a need for change.

How Can a Family Law Attorney Help?

Not being able to see your child negatively impacts your life and your child’s happiness. Hiring an attorney experienced in family law can be critical to ensuring you can spend quality time with your child.

Your attorney can file the appropriate documents with the court and create an effective legal strategy for presenting your case in court. Having an attorney can also ease the strain of communicating with your ex about this issue, and it may even help you reach an agreement to avoid the need to go to court altogether.

Many family law attorneys offer free consultations to review your case and discuss the process. After talking with the attorney, they can discuss their fees and retainer agreement with you. Some law firms allow you to pay in installments or have payment plans to work with your financial situation.

Find a child custody attorney in your area who can help you understand your rights when enforcing a child custody order.