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Divorce can be hard enough to go through if the couple is childless, however at least they are able to make a clean break. With a divorce when children are involved, a clean break is not possible, as there are decisions to be made which usually involves both parents, and of course, one parent will be given custody whilst the other has visitation rights. Here we look at child custody and some of the visitation rights parents may have.
In the majority of cases of divorce, the children live with their mother and the father has the visitation rights. However, there is no law stating that the mother has the right to custody; legally either of the parents could have the children living with them. However, in the majority of cases the mother has been the one that has stayed at home and looked after the children while the father has gone out to work. This is why the majority of children stay with their mother after divorce.
Reasonable visitation
If the divorce is an amicable one and both partners can agree, then visitation rights may be agreed by the partners themselves and usually divorce court will welcome this, as it is easier and fairer on the child and parents. This is usually called “reasonable” visitation. In many cases working on a parenting plan together to set out visitation days, along with issues of custody can be helpful. However, this only works if both of the partners are willing to work together. Reasonable visitation in the courts eye means for example that parents work out what days and times each partner will be able to spend with the child. However if one of the parents continually disregards what has been agreed upon and skips out on scheduled days often, with no good excuse, then you may have to go back to court as this would not be in the child’s best interest.
A fixed visitation schedule
If parents cannot agree to custody and visitation rights then the court may step in to reach a solution where the child is able to spend time with both parents. If this is the case then it is said to be a fixed visitation schedule. A fixed visitation schedule means that the court will state a detailed visitation schedule, which the partner who has visitation rights will follow. For example, it may state that the partner has visitation rights on a Saturday from 9am to 6pm. The downside to a fixed visitationis that there is less flexibility for both partners and of course, it may affect the child inversely.
Supervised visitation rights
If for any reason, there may be reason to suspect the child may come to harm during visitation then the court may rule that visitation can only be carried out under supervision. This means that during any period where the parent has contact with the child another adult, not the custodial parent, must be present during the visitation. This may be someone that is appointed by the courts or they may be a third party that is agreed upon by both parents. In this case, they would need to have the courts approval. Supervised supervision may be necessary in cases such as where one partner has shown a history of violence or any form of destructive behavior.
Visitation rights for grandparents
As the law stands all 50 of the states in the USA have grandparent visitation rights. Many countries throughout the world also allow grandparents some visitation rights. This allows grandparents on both sides to ask the court for continued access and the legal right to see their grandchildren. However, the visitation rights may vary from state to state and country to country and the parents of the children do have some say in regards to limitation of these rights.
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