What happens if you deny visitation

Your attorney may advise you when can you deny visitation to the non-custodial parent and when allowing visitation may work in your favor. Because Courts often encourage contact with both parents, a case must be made to show why the non-custodial parent is unfit.

Gather and organize evidence you have that shows erratic, irresponsible, or dangerous behavior from the other parent. Bring this evidence with you to review with the attorney so the attorney will have an accurate picture of the circumstances and can advise you appropriately.

Conversely, if you feel your former partner unfairly denies you access to your children, you have a right to enforce your visitation. Log examples of your attempts to see your children and the parental alienation being exhibited by the other parent. Your attorney can use this to make an emergency application or regular Court Petition allowing you to see your child.

The question of when can you deny visitation to the other parent arises out of trying situations. When faced with issues that decide the well-being of your children, you need kindness, understanding, and assistance.

America Family Law Center is a recognized expert and offers a wide range of services to families including unlimited consultations with licensed attorneys who can provide experienced advice. If you are having issues with visitation, whether you are the non-custodial parent or the custodial parent, contact America Family Law Center today.

This site is for general informational purposes only. The information on this site is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice. Children's Bureau. Determining the Best Interests of the Child. Updated March Your Privacy Rights.

To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFamily. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Table of Contents View All.

Table of Contents. Acceptable Denial. Refusing to Send Your Kids. Next Steps. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Related Articles. Understanding and Coping With Child Abandonment. The most common remedy when a custodial parent denies visitation to a noncustodial parent — is for the noncustodial parent to file an enforcement action. In enforcement actions, you ask the family court judge to punish the custodial parent for refusing to honor the court order for visitation. Punishment may include just a fine. Another financial deterrent is for the judge to require that the custodial parent also pay your attorney fees.

The most robust deterrent is for the judge to order that the custodial parent be placed in jail for a specific time or until the court order is honored.

A judge may also suspend the sentence by saying something like — "I'm not ordering you to jail yet, but I will be watching what happens for the next six months. If you honor the court order, I'll remove the sentence. But if you don't honor the court order, I will send you to jail. In some cases, the judge may order that you have additional visitation time to make up for the time you lost.

Generally, judges will give a noncustodial one chance to make a mistake. If the noncustodial parent refuses visitation repeatedly, the judge will likely order stronger enforcement remedies, including jail time. Another practical remedy is for your lawyer to contact the lawyer for the other parent. During the pandemic, the risk of contracting COVID affects your attempt to force a parent to honor a visitation court order.

Our family lawyers are experienced trial lawyers. Call us at Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.