Child Visitation Law

The ABA studies and strives for improvements in the law relating to child custody and visitation, such as development of a model joint custody statute, standards for relocating children and rights of stepparents and unwed parents.

The Child Support Enforcement Program is a joint federal, state and local partnership to ensure that parents provide support to their children. The program involves 54 separate state and territory systems, each with its own unique laws and procedures. The program is usually run by state and local human service agencies, often with the help of prosecuting attorneys and other law enforcement officials, as well as officials of family or domestic relations courts. At the federal level, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides policy guidance, technical assistance, training and funding to states, operates the Federal Parent Locator Service, which uses computer matching to locate non-custodial parents in order to establish and enforce child support orders, and provides grants to states for child access and visitation services.

This section of the Divorce Law Information Center is designed to assist you with post-divorce actions such as child support modification, child support collection, visitation issues, and denial of visitation.

In a divorce where one parent is awarded sole custody of the child, the noncustodial parent is usually awarded visitation rights in the divorce decree. Visitation rights can be withheld if evidence is provided that proves it is in the best interest of the child not to see the parent. This usually occurs only where it has been shown that the parent is an excessive user of alcohol, a user of illegal narcotics, or is physically or verbally abusive. With the large number of divorced parents in the United States, grandparents have lobbied successfully for laws that give them rights to visit their grandchildren.

The judicial system in each state considers numerous factors in arriving at a final and proper child custody arrangement. After reviewing all of these factors, the Wisconsin Supreme Court devised a guideline for a child's rights. These basic rights are upheld in all 50 states.

The concept of grandparents' rights is derived from three basic legal approaches. (It is important to note that grandparents' rights only give grandparents the right to file a petition to visit their grandchildren; they do not guarantee that grandparents will be heard before a court of law.)

The purpose of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act is to revise the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act to bring the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act into compliance with the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and other federal statutes such as the Violence Against Women Act, as well as to make those changes to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act which are necessary as a consequence of inconsistent court interpretations.

Our non-profit organization is dedicated to reuniting grandparents and grandchildren who become separated due to a change in family circumstance.

We, the members of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, hereby dedicate ourselves and our efforts to the creation of a family law system, legislative system, and public awareness which promotes equal rights for ALL parties affected by divorce, and the breakup of a family or establishment of paternity. It is our belief through our involvement and dedication, we can have a positive effect on the emotional and psychological well-being of children.

Visitation rights are a myth. Neither parent is inherently entitled to visitation rights when going through a divorce. You only have visitation rights when they have been established by the court or determined in a parenting plan that is created by both parents and acknowledged in court. In your divorce proceedings, it is important to be aware that visitation and custody are two separate matters.

SPARC's goal is to ensure that children of divorce continue to have meaningful relationships with both parents, regardless of marital status. We advocate on behalf all non-custodial parents to ensure they get equitable treatment in court and continued access to their children. In addition, we work to promote gender equality in Divorce and Custody issues.

This is a collection of articles and divorce law related information provided by some of the professionals who are members of our directory (lawyers, mediators, counselors, etc.). This section of the site is constantly growing with quality, up-to-date divorce information regarding laws, child custody, visitation, support and more.

Ask most divorced parents about child visitation rights, and you're likely to hear some discontent about the situation. The following answers from the life coach and legal expert may give you some insight to your own situation.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Family Law including: adoption, alimony, child support and custody, child visitation, collaborative law, divorce, domestic violence, elder law, juvenile crime, juvenile law, juvenile probation, paternity, pre-nuptial agreement, separation.