Is There Ever a Time a Parent Can Stop a Child from Seeing their Other Parent?
If your child’s other parent is a danger to the child’s health or safety, there are lawful steps that can be taken to prevent visitation with that parent. However, it is important for parents to remember that unless you are in an extreme circumstance where you must take unilateral action, the proper authorities should be called in and official steps and assessments should be taken by them, such as the police or child protective services. In addition to contacting these authorities and gaining their help and guidance, parents have the option of seeking emergency child custody relief from the courts.
This article will discuss various top-level items concerning when and how parents might be able to stop a child from seeing their other parent, and potential consequences parents need to be aware of.
Can I stop my child from seeing their other parent when there are no court orders?
While there are always exceptions to general rules: generally, no. one parent cannot stop their child from seeing their other parent absent an official court order granting them the authority to do so.
Clients often ask this question in situations where the child lives with one parent, and that parent is limiting the contact the child can have with the other parent.
Without a court order, one parent really does not have any kind of authority to withhold their child from the child’s other parent – nor does one parent have the authority to stop a child from seeing their other parent. However, parents may have legitimate cause to be concerned for the well-being of their child in the other parent’s care.
No “Perfect Parent” Standard
The reasons that a parent might be concerned about their child spending time with their other parent are varied and diverse. Parents may have sincere concern over potential substance abuse, the other parent could have anger management issues, the other parent could completely lack parenting skills. All of these are legitimate reasons why one parent would be concerned about their child spending time with their other parent. Even so, it is important to remember that there is no “perfect parent” standard. No parent is perfect. Parents have to attempt to work together to co-parent to the best of their abilities – and if there ever is a true, insurmountable issue, the proper authorities such as the police or child protective services can be a first-line of defense, instead of one parent defying orders from the court or simply withholding the child and saying they have their reasons, without having the backup of the proper authorities.
What Steps Can I Take if I Feel My Child is Endangered by Their Other Parent?
There are processes and official authorities who can help parents who find themselves in emergency situations. Parents can seek an emergency (ex parte) order, which is an emergency petition made to the court when an order needs to be made as soon as possible due to an emergency.
In addition to filing a case and petition for an emergency custody order, involving the proper authorities at the right time can be quite crucial. There are official steps that can be taken to limit one parent’s access to the child. But, unless a fairly extreme exception applies, because California public policy is both parents should have an equal and fair opportunity to have a relationship with their child, withholding the child from the other parent absent court orders or contacting higher authorities can become very problematic. In a he-said she-said situation, if there is not proper evidence showing that the parent who withheld the child did so for very good reason, what we have is a situation where the court sees that one parent has unreasonably frustrated the other parent’s right to foster a relationship with their own child.
How might keeping my child from their other parent backfire?
The parent whose parenting time has been interfered with, and believes that their time was frustrated unreasonably, has several options they can pursue. For example:
- The parent can request that the court grant THEM primary physical custody of the child. The court heavily weighs allegations of frustration of parenting time, which can lead to allegations as serious as abduction or concealment of the child. If sufficient evidence is provided that the parent with primary custody did unreasonably keep the child from their other parent, especially if the detainment was in violation of a direct court order, the court could very well decide that a sole physical custody grant to the non-offending parent is appropriate.
- The parent can ask that the other parent be court-ordered to attend co-parenting classes. This would be in an attempt to help the parent grow and understand how their behavior may be detrimental to the child.
- California Family Code section 271 effectively “punishes” bad behavior and can be used to order the offending parent to pay a monetary penalty to the other parent known as a “sanction.” This can be done if the court finds that an unreasonable parent engaged in litigation misconduct. If one parent unreasonably keeps a child from their other parent and/or takes unreasonable action and positions during a custody case that forces litigation, the offending parent may very well be sanctioned under this section of the law.
Contact Cardwell, Steigerwald Young
The well-being of our children should be every parent’s highest priority. If you need help in your own child custody and visitation case, contact the experienced San Francisco child custody and visitation lawyers at Cardwell, Steigerwald Young. Our qualified attorneys can offer perspective from extensive experience in these sensitive issues, and help you to strategize your next best steps.
Source:
sfhsa.org/services/protection-safety/child-protective-services
