Child custody is one matter that the court will decide upon in a divorce. Custody can be granted in many ways, generally some sort of joint custody agreement will be made. The court finds it beneficial for both parents to be active participants in a child's life. Oftentimes, one parent can receive custody while the other will be given a visitation agreement to follow. The non-custodial parent will either have unsupervised or supervised visitation time and the schedule will be agreed upon by both parents.
Unsupervised visitation is most common and the parent can take the child to their house or go out anywhere as long it remains in their visitation time. Supervised visitation can be ordered if the parent is deemed "unfit" to be alone with the child. A court-appointed adult will need to be present during visitation times or sometimes a grandparent can be chosen to serve as the responsible adult. If you are facing a child custody matter be sure to team up with an Annapolis divorce lawyer from The Law Office of Nicholas T. Exarhakis. We can help you fight to make sure that your rights are defended and you get the custody or visitation agreement that you want.
Child visitation agreements are formed while taking many factors into consideration. Depending on work schedules and the needs of the child, a visitation agreement can be any of the following:
- Visitation every other weekend
- Visitation in the middle of the week
- Switching off school breaks with the child- one parent has visitation during fall and summer break while the other has winter and spring breaks, etc.
- Visitation for holidays every other year- Christmas and Easter one year and Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve the next year, etc.
- A mother can receive visitation for Mother's day and a father can have visitation on Father's day
- Visitation on the child's birthday every other year
There can be many other variations of visitation agreements that the court and parents can come up with depending on the unique situation. Visitation arrangements can also be agreed upon between the spouses without the interference of the court. If the custodial parent agrees to a few other days for the visiting parent to be with the child, that is acceptable and they do not need any sort of court modification to do so. If you are going through a divorce and have a child custody issue to settle, obtain the help of an Annapolis divorce attorney to make sure your needs and wants are fought for. Our firm offers a free initial consultation so you are able to call today and ask questions or discuss the details of your situation with a skilled lawyer.