Home Types of Visitation What Are Supervised Visitation

What Are Supervised Visitation

What Are Supervised Visitation

 

When a parent thinks that their child is unsafe under their ex-spouse's care, they can petition the court to request that the non-custodial parent's visits be made into supervised child visitation instead of a normal visitation schedule. However, one parent mistrusting the other is not a good enough legal reason for the court to agree to have a court liaison supervise visitation. Contact a child visitation lawyer to consult your case.

There are many reasons why a parent may request supervised child visitation. Common ones include a history of domestic abuse or drug abuse. However, although it may be more likely for a court to agree to have a liaison supervise visitation if those circumstances exist, it must be proven that the non-custodial parent is a danger to the child if left unsupervised. 

A parent can start by making a list and gathering evidence relating to why they are requesting supervised child visitation for their ex-spouse. General dislike and hostility is not a good enough reason. In order for a family court to agree to supervise visitation, there must be stellar reasons behind the request. 

The custodial parent should examine the reasons that they are requesting supervised child visitation for their ex-spouse. They should consider if the circumstances they have listed really do put the children in harm's way. Filing a petition with a family court to request that they supervise visitation is the next step. One should be sure to have some evidence since the court will usually not consider hearsay to be good enough, unless it is coming from the child. 

Then there is a possibility that the courts will allow supervised child visitation based on word alone. After the court documents are filled out and filed with the family court a court date should be requested. Since the non-custodial parent has the right to know the situation and defend themselves in the custody hearing they must be officially notified. Having the ex-spouse served with the legal documents to request supervised child visitation is imperative. 

Supervised child visitation can work in a number of ways. Frequently, a neutral meeting area that has been approved by the court will be used. A court liaison will supervise visitation for a set amount of time, generally a hour. There are rules that must abide by during supervised child visitation. Many parents dislike the rules which sometimes involve limited physical contact and the inability to take photographs. If the custodial parent eventually decides that supervised child visitation is no longer necessary, they must file a motion through the court. One should never unofficially stop the supervised child visitation, as the custodial parent could get in legal trouble with the family court for doing so without permission.

Before requesting the courts to supervise visitation for their child, a custodial parent should ask themselves if they are doing so with good reason. Requesting supervised child visitation is not something that should be done lightly. If it's done for the wrong reasons, it is more likely to harm the child than the non-custodial parent.