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Child Custody Visitation Information
In family law, visitation is an American term for what is
called access in Canada and in at least several European countries.
Generally speaking, visitation or access is a privilege granted to a
non-custodial parent. It is usually considered a privilege for the parent.
Standard visitation in most states consists of alternating week-ends and some
holidays.
As a matter of routine in family court before a judge, fathers are awarded, in
the United States, four days a month visitation to see their children. If the
mother allows, parenting time may increase.
However, if the child, at or around the age of 13, depending on the state, the
child may choose which parent's home to live without government interference.
A fathers' rights and men's rights movement is set to change this arrangement to
equal, 50/50 shared parenting. For example, leadership is shown from groups like
Fathers 4 Justice, American Coalition for Fathers and Children (ACFC), Alliance
for Non-Custodial Parents Rights (ANCPR), and National Congress for Fathers and
Children (NCFC). Bob Geldof, of Boom Town Rats, Band Aid, and Live Aid fame,
leads the movement in the United Kingdom with Parents 4 Protest and The Sun's
Justice 4 Dads campaign.
Visitation is an archaic term that is gradually being replaced with parenting
time. There is a growing reform movement in the United States to eliminate the
concept of custody and replace it with the presumption of 50-50 parenting time,
thus treating the father and mother as equal parents of the child(ren).
Parents (and in some jurisdictions grand-parents) frequently believe that they
have a right to visitation or access; however, courts in several countries have
used the subjective doctrine of the best interests of the child to deny parental
or grandparental access to the child(ren). This is commonly found in cases when
custody of the child(ren) is disputed and there is a history of interference
with visitation. In such high conflict cases, there are often allegation of
child abuse and/or domestic violence.
In high conflict cases, visitation may be supervised by a social worker,
psychologist, guardian ad litem, or other third party while the non-custodial
parent visits with the child.
Many non custodial parents have visitation orders that allow the child to visit
with them without any supervision. These visits often take place away from the
custodial residence. Often the non-custodial parent is granted overnight
visitation, weekend visitation, or vacation visitation.
Parents may also share custody and may agree to allow visitation. In these
situations a court order may not be needed, though sometimes it is obtained to
forestall later disputes about what the parents had previously agreed to, and to
allow the courts to have some oversight over the children (which they normally
have under statute and under the parens patriae power).
A recent legal and political trend has developed in the United States, the
United Kingdom, and other Western countries, known as 50-50 parenting. Under
this system, there is no legal determination of custody and the rights of both
parents to equal time with their child(ren) (and vice versa) are protected.
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