When a family is broken up due to divorce, it affects not only the couple but also their children. In most instances, one parent has primary custody and the other has secondary custody and visitation rights. A reasonable visitation schedule depends on both parents’ circumstances; if both are fit parents, the average schedule provides for visits every other weekend, a weekday dinner or overnight stay, alternating holidays and summer vacations. There are a variety of ways for a child custody lawyer in Oahu to form a child custody agreement, and parents do not have to allow the court to do it for them.
Custody Rotation
While it is not common, rotating custody works well if parents live within a few miles of each other. In this arrangement, one parent has the children for a period and the other then keeps them for the same period. While it may seem to make things less complicated, this arrangement takes great communication between parents, who must keep each other updated on the children’s schoolwork and extracurricular activities.
Supervised Visitation
A supervised visitation arrangement is ordered if the courts determine that one parent may pose a threat to the child. Supervised visitation is also ordered if the court has reason to think that the non-custodial parent may leave the country or the state with the children against the other parent’s wishes. In supervised visitation, another impartial adult must attend the visit.
Pickup Orders
If a parent leaves the court’s jurisdiction with the children or refuses to tell the other parent where the children are, the other parent can petition the court for a pickup order. With these orders, police are sent to take the child back to the other parent. These orders are typically only granted on an emergency basis, as the parent facing accusations has no chance to tell their version of events.
Regardless of which type of custody is agreed to by parents, a child custody lawyer in Oahu and the court, the arrangement is likely to pose difficulties for children. Parents should not talk about divorce and custody proceedings with their children, and they should not attempt to turn the children against the other parent. If they visit the website and remain civil and respectful to one another, parents can make custody arrangements easier on themselves and the children.
