The battle for visitation can be a highly emotional and stressful process for everyone. Both you and your former partner may have visitation interests you want a judge to address. The court, however, has one primary concern: the child’s welfare.
The court will look at every facet of your parent-child relationship to determine what custodial arrangement will be the most beneficial for your child. Knowing the facts and having a skilled attorney on your side can ensure that you and your children receive the custodial plan that is best for your family.
Here are the four things that can cause the court to revoke a parent’s visitation rights.
Drug or alcohol abuse
Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the leading reasons the court has for revoking a parent’s visitation rights. Children whose parents abuse drugs and alcohol are three times more likely to suffer physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Additionally, children of substance-abusing parents are four times more likely of being neglected than their peers.
The court is not only concerned with the child’s welfare with substance abusers but with the child’s future as well. Children of drug users and alcoholics are twice as likely to develop substance addictions themselves as they grow up. Drug addiction and alcoholism can negatively influence a child’s emotional development, intellectual growth, performance in school, social interactions with others, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
If the court knows that a parent is a substance abuser, then that court is well within its discretion to revoke visitation rights in order to protect the child. If you are concerned about how drugs or alcohol abuse may affect you or your ex-partner’s visitation rights, consulting with an attorney will help answer some of your questions.
Child abuse
The court will revoke the visitation rights of any parent who is abusing or neglecting their child. Physical abuse can have negative consequences that last a lifetime. According to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children , about 30% of abused children later abuse their own children, making child abuse a generational affliction. In one study , 80% of 21 year-olds who had reported child abuse during their lifetime met the criteria for one or more psychological disorders.
Additionally, children who are victims of abuse are nine times more likely to become involved in criminal activity themselves. The court is determined to put a stop to child abuse and prevent the lifelong damage that abuse can inflict.
The court’s greatest interest is protecting the child from harm, and so the court will not hesitate to remove the child from an abusive parent. If you have questions or concerns about child abuse and how it can determine custodial and visitation rights, consulting with a skilled lawyer will help immensely.
Fear of abduction
If the court suspects a parent of planning to abduct his or her own child , then the court has the discretion to revoke that parent’s visitation. Abducting your own child, also known as “ family abduction ,” occurs when a family member kidnaps or keeps a child, violating the custodial parent’s rights. Statistics show that parents primarily commit family kidnappings. This involves a larger percentage of female perpetrators (43 percent) than does other kidnapping offenses. It also occurs more frequently to children under 6 years old and equally victimizes juveniles of both sexes. It also usually originates in the home.
A parent may abduct his or her own child for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with the court’s custody decision, anger at the child’s other parent, or protecting the child from a potentially abusive situation. Whatever the reason is behind the kidnapping, parental child abduction is illegal whether or not the parent has no custody, joint custody, or primary or shared custody of the child. Additionally, as with child abuse, the negative effects family abduction has on a child can last well into adulthood.
Children who have been abducted by a parent can suffer long-term consequences. These include depression, excessive fearfulness and phobias, anger, loneliness, reactive attachment disorder, and identity crisis. These afflictions can last a lifetime.
If the court fears that one parent may attempt to abduct the child, then the court is within its discretion to deny that parent their visitation rights. If you fear that your ex-partner is contemplating abducting your child, then your attorney will raise that issue to the court, and make sure your concerns are heard.
Criminal activity
The court may revoke the visitation rights of a parent involved in criminal activity. Exposure to criminal activity potentially puts children in potential danger. It also endangers children of parents involved in the criminal justice system.
For example, according to the National Institute of Justice , children of parents who are involved in the criminal justice system are six times more likely to face incarceration themselves. Additionally, children with parents involved in criminal activity are more likely to have behavioral and psychological problems such as depression, anger, violence, and criminal mischief.
The court has an interest in protecting children but also keeping them out of the criminal justice system. Thus, a parent’s criminal history may affect the court’s decision whether to grant or revoke visitation rights. Your attorney can advise you on how criminality (either yours or your ex-partner’s) can impact your custodial arrangement.
Call Mann & Kemp today
The law surrounding visitation rights and joint custody can be difficult to navigate alone. Having an experienced family law attorney on your side can make all the difference in your visitation rights and shared custody case. Mann & Kemp is your law firm for family law issues in central Arkansas .
To get answers to your questions and learn more about us, get in touch and schedule a meeting with a member of our team at 501-222-4730.