In Family Law, contact or in the United States, visitation is one of the general terms which denote the level of contact a parent or other significant person in a child's life can have with that child. Contact forms part of the bundle of rights and privileges which a parent may have in relation to any child of the family. Learn more of this with the North Carolina family lawyer.
Generally speaking, visitation is considered only a privilege granted to the non-custodial parent of any child of the family. The standard visitation award by the family court in most U.S. states consists of alternating weekends and some holidays.
However, the child, at or around the age of 13, depending on the state, may choose in which parent's home to live without government interference.
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 or children.
This is commonly found in cases when custody of the child or children is disputed and there is a history of interference with visitation. In such high conflict cases, there are often allegations of child abuse and/or domestic violence. Check out what the North Carolina family lawyer has to offer about this.
In high conflict cases, visitation may be supervised by a social worker, psychologist, guardian ad litem, or other third party while the noncustodial parent visits with the child.
Many noncustodial 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 noncustodial 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. For more information about visitation or contact rights, then visit the North Carolina family lawyer.