What If Your Spouse Doesn’t Visit Your Kids During the Divorce Process?

As you approach your divorce, you will negotiate a visitation schedule as part of your custody arrangements. This schedule outlines the time each parent will spend with the child, including visits made by the noncustodial spouse. If the noncustodial spouse does not comply with these visitation times, he or she risks losing some visitation privileges.

But what if the spouse does not visit the children during the divorce process itself, before such a schedule has even been implemented?

A parent who avoids visitation while the divorce is pending could ultimately lose some of his or her custody rights in the final divorce decree. The judge will consider each parent’s willingness to allow visitation, take part in visitation and failure to see the children during the process. It will not reflect well on a parent to make little to no effort to see the children while the divorce is pending.

What if the children refuse to attend visits?

The matter can become more complicated if it is the children, not the parent, who refuses to take part in visitation. Both parents must maintain as unified a front as possible during the divorce process, ensuring each child knows entirely avoiding the other parent is not an option.

If there is any reason to believe the child would be put into a potentially abusive situation during visitation, it is the responsibility of the custodial parent to keep the child away from the parent. You may also file for emergency protective orders or change in custody if abuse is a factor.

For more information and tips about how to proceed if your visitation is not going according to plan, speak with a trusted Nassau County divorce lawyer at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.