What Is Liberal Access in Family Law

This solution makes more sense when parents are exceptional co-parents who communicate well and don`t let personal differences interfere with their parenting decisions. In the real world, even when parents have the best intentions and consciously focus on the well-being of their children, the predictability of a given schedule usually serves the family better. If both parents agree and both are flexible with respect to arrangements and visits from the parent who has no care or control, the court may allow non-specific access orders such as reasonable access or liberal visitation. While these types of access orders can be very vague, they provide more flexibility for more consensual divorce parties. If your custody and access agreement was ordered by the court, it can only be changed if you both agree with the changes. If you disagree, you must go back to court and prove that the best interests of the child or the parents` ability to care for the child have changed. Because of these warnings, I had no choice but to seek primary custody to protect my relationship with my children from my ex-wife. When the smoke cleared, I had sole custody (because she screwed up – winning was a long way at best). Now that she has joined forces, we have lifted her supervised visit requirement, and I am in a position to decide what a „liberal and reasonable“ visit means. This is complicated by the fact that she has not given up on reversing her custody situation.

So when I ask him for more time, I feel like I`m helping him reposition himself for his next attack. I have agreed on a general yes policy, but I will keep the points so that, if I want to say no, I can show that I have been more than fair. As far as visits are concerned, states have adopted standard plans like every weekend over two plus two weeks in the summer. Some couples adopt these standard plans or use them as a starting point, and others abandon them to find something that works best for them. If the parents cannot agree, the court will hold a hearing to determine what is in the best interests of the child. In addition to supervised access, the court usually schedules access checks to monitor the history of the parent`s uncared and uncontrolled relationship. This is done for the purpose of removing monitored access in favor of unsupervised access. There are many things that the court will consider when deciding whether the parent has access without custody or control.

It all depends on the circumstances, because every family factual situation is different. Here are some examples of factors that the court would consider: Contact is the legal term for the right of the child and parents to spend time together. Although they may not play a role in decision-making, a parent with visitation rights has the right to receive information about the child`s upbringing, health and well-being. Other family members, such as grandparents, may also have a right of access. Normally, a non-custodial parent has access to the child. A divorce or separation puts a strain on parents and children as they struggle to achieve a new sense of normalcy. The flexibility of a „reasonable, liberal access situation“ may seem appealing, but it can lead to disagreements and a blurred understanding of each parent`s rights. A lawyer who is knowledgeable about custody and access issues is an invaluable resource when it comes to protecting your rights through this process. When I spoke to my lawyer about custody options, she cautioned me that the definition of „liberal and reasonable“ was based on what the parent who granted the overtime thought was „liberal and reasonable.“ In practice, minimum values can become maximum values.

If the minimum is every other weekend, dinner during the week, two weeks of vacation in the summer, and alternating vacations, I`d expect that if my ex was a babysitter (a new term I just learned), that would be the maximum she would allow. I couldn`t do anything about it, because it wouldn`t really violate the agreement, and if I tried to change the agreement to make up more time, I would probably be excluded because there was no „significant change in circumstances.“ Knowing that my wife`s opening offer of three Sunday afternoons a month was far from my expectations of 50/50 parental leave and decision-making, there really was no choice but to fight for custody. By the way, I have never understood why the courts think that divorced parents can agree on what is „liberal and reasonable“ with respect to child visitation. For this reason, I always encourage clients not to allow the use of the language in a visiting order. In my opinion, this is just another example of a family court that drops the ball and does not discourage conflict after divorce. In summary, contact is generally less likely to allow a parent to be denied access to their child, unless the child`s well-being is severely affected. If you and your spouse agree that you are the custodial parent and have liberal access rights, you must both maintain a reasonably friendly relationship after the divorce. It will also help you if you don`t think you`re an iron period. The term „liberal visits“ works instead of a fixed visiting schedule.

Your divorce decree does not specify exactly when your spouse will spend time with the children. Instead, you get a phone call on Thursday telling you he wants her the next day after school and keeps her for the weekend. You are expected to consider these requests at least most of the time. Judges generally do not order this type of visit unless the parents have demonstrated that they are able to agree and cooperate during the divorce process. Most co-parenting relationships are not tailored to the non-specific nature of a „reasonable and liberal visiting situation.“ Flexibility that seems attractive at first can lead to endless disagreements. Unless you and your ex have essentially similar ideas about the frequency and duration of visits, neither of you will have anything separate, such as a court-approved parenting plan that determines which idea controls in a particular situation. Implementation of „reasonable and liberal visits“ When a relationship ends, your responsibilities to the children in the relationship remain after the other parent breaks up. The division of parental responsibilities after separation is set out in a custody and personal relationship agreement – an important part of a separation agreement.

A court may also make a custody and access order. If you have problems with your liberal visiting conditions after divorce, you may be powerless to apply a more reasonable routine unless you file a petition with the court to change your judgment. For example, if your decree instead includes a specific visiting schedule and your ex is supposed to bring your children back by 7 p.m. on Sunday, but never shows up, you can usually call the police to enforce the terms of your order. The law has nothing to enforce with liberal visits. The other warning has something to do with the vague question of „liberal and reasonable.“ I assumed that shared custody would give me the legal authority to protect my relationship with the children, but in practice, if one of the parents had the label of „primary custodial parent“ with more parental leave, judges tended to use this as a tiebreaker, meaning I would never win a draw unless: My ex would be completely his rocker. I should assume that shared custody would give me a seat at the table, but not to ensure that I was a peer. When making an initial custody decision, it helps to be aware of visitation opportunities and choose an experienced family law lawyer to represent your interests.

Effective representation at the beginning can save you the hassle and expense of requesting a change later. Not fighting tooth and nail over access rights can benefit your child in many ways. Your child would have the security and advantage of growing with input and interaction with both parents. It should also be noted that any attempt to deliberately deprive the careless parent and control his or her time of legal contact with the child is not considered friendly by the court. The best custody and access agreement for your children is one that you and your spouse make by appointment. You will both defend it and since you both know your children, it will probably be the best for the children too. I suggest you read your visitation clause carefully and see if it describes what should happen if you don`t agree on what is a „liberal and reasonable“ presence of children.