QUESTION
Who is responsible for the transportation involving visitations with my 3 yr old son?
Asked on Oct 25th, 2011 on Family Law - Virginia
More details to this question:
I have sole custody of our son. After the divorce my ex has moved 45 minutes away from where my son and I live and where all court proceedings took place. No where on our court paper is specified if we are supposed to meet or if he is to pick him up. We are both supposed to tell the courts when we move, which he never did, but thats the only thing stated on the court papers about moving. There is no set visitation schedule, which I''ve never denied him his right to see him. He is months behind on his child support. I feel like I should not have to meet him or take him all the way to his house like he is requesting me to do, since he is the one that choosed to move away. I want to do whats right for my son. I work hard and have a limited budget(especially since I haven''t received anything from child support) and can''t afford extra expenses to drive out of my way to take my son to my ex.
1 ANSWER
1 Award
As the custodial parent, your only obligation is to make the child available for scheduled visitation. In cases where parents cannot work out the details, it is often spelled out in the court order who is responsible for transportation. If could be either parent, depending on the circumstances. I think you make very good points that he is the one who moved away and created the transportation problem. Either of you could file a motion with the court to determine this issue, if you cannot resolve it yourselves. Until then, I would think that you are abiding by the court order by making the child available for visitation and if he wants to come pick him up, that is up to him. However, if this becomes burdensome for you because he fails to pick up the child and you cannot plan accordingly, then you may want to take it to the court yourself to get this resolved.
This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state. It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.
Answered on Oct 26th, 2011 at 3:13 PM