Children being withheld from Father
Jan 01, 2016OUTCOME: Father-Children visits resumed.
This past year a Father came to our office frustrated that all his attempts to see his children according to a court ordered were thwarted by the mom. Even in a contentious relationship between pa ... rents and regardless of disputes with child support payments, court orders for visitation still must be complied with unless there is a danger to the children and the proper legal steps have been taken to address the issue. In such a situation where one parent is mad at the other parent for whatever claims and willfully withholds children from the other parent without taking any of the necessary legal steps, such parent could be found to be in violation of the visit order and be held in contempt. When the Father in this case was left with nothing else to do when the other parent withheld the children and the police were typically reluctant to get involved in such domestic disputes, he did what I recommend: obtain counsel to assert your rights loudly to the Court. That significant step, while unfortunately necessary, may result in the parent-child visits immediately resuming. In the case this fact pattern is based upon: this was the positive result.
