Divorce and Child Custody - part 5
The following article about New Jersey Divorce is featured on New-Jersey-Lawyers.com The below article has 31 topics and is a continuation of the the last article. We are posting topics 19-25 today We will publish the balance of topics in proceeding days. Or you can read the entire article on New Jersey Lawyers
19. What type of visitation rights does a parent have in New Jersey?
In the State of New Jersey a parent has a constitutional right to see his/her children. Before any parent can be denied of visitation rights, it must be shown that having the child in the parent’s presence would cause physical or emotional harm to the child. Moreover, it must be proven that there are no other alternatives than completely terminating visitation.
20. What type of visitation schedules are available in New Jersey?
There is an endless amount of different types of visitation schedules. Each couple can arrange a visitation schedule that can suit their own lives and their work schedules. The standard visitation plan is for the husband to have visitation every other weekend, and on Wednesday evenings. The visitation on the weekend normally starts on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ends on Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. The visitation on Wednesdays usually starts and 6:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. A new trend in family law is to have shared residential custody. This means that the children live with both parents. In my opinion this is really a scam that is used by many ex-husbands. This type of shared custody is primary a ploy by ex-husbands to reduce their child support obligations. The more overnights that the husband has will translate into a lower child support award. I always recommend to all of my clients to reject a shared parenting plan. Furthermore, I always advise my clients to permit the non-custodial parent to see their children as much as possible. However, I don’t permit my clients to agree to a shared parenting plan because in most cases it is just a ploy by husbands to pay lower child support.
21. What is supervised visitation?
In some cases it may be appropriate for a parent to have supervised visitation with the children. In some cases, the parent may have a drug or alcohol problem, and if they have visitation with the children alone, then they could corrupt them. Moreover, in some cases, the non-custodial parent may have a conviction for a sex-related charge. In these types of situations, the courts will often order that all visitation must be supervised. Supervised visitation can take place at the locate county court house. The Sheriff Department will supervise visitation normally on the weekends. The courts only order court supervised visitation in the most extreme cases. There are only so many sheriff offices, and there are a limited amount of cases that they can supervise. Therefore, in the vast majority of the cases, the court will order that a parent or a relative of the non-custodial parent be appointed as the supervisor. Basically, this means that the non-custodial parent can’t visit their children unless that supervisor is present.
22. My ex-spouse is now living with another person, can I request that visitation be modified so that the new companion cannot spend the night where the children are located?
When a parent starts a new romantic relationship, the former embittered spouse often tries to have the visitation modified so that the new companion cannot spend the night with the children. The former spouse will argue that the children are too young to understand the new situation, and that it will cause emotional harm to them. The court will then analyze the emotional impact to the children if they visit their parent with his new girlfriend or wife. The court will also consider the stability of the new relationship, the ages of the children, and the relationship of the children with the new companion in making this determination.
23. What can a person do if they continually fight with their former spouse during the pick up and drop off of the children?
In many cases, the parties actually have physical fights when they drop off and pick up the children during the visitation. This type of scenario is especially enhanced if the wife moves in with another boyfriend, or if the husband shacks up with a new girlfriend. Given the high cost of living in New Jersey, this type of situation occurs all of the time. If the parties can’t control their emotions, then the court will order that the pick up and the drop off of the children must occur at the local police station. However, in many cases the people are still berserk, and they still engage in violence even though they are in the police station. In my opinion, people are generally nuts. Having the children picked up and dropped off at a police station really is in many cases the only avenue available to prevent the parties from killing each other. Nonetheless, a nasty visitation dispute is a great way to ruin a kid’s childhood.
24. What can be done if a party fails to comply with the visitation schedule?
A common problem with visitation is that one party fails to comply with the visitation schedule. Visitation schedules are derived from court orders, or judgments of divorce. Therefore, if a person consistently fails to comply with a visitation schedule then they can create a real mess for themselves. A court can sanction a parent with fines if they consistently fail to comply with a visitation schedule. In some cases, an embittered former wife becomes so enraged that she does everything within her power to deny the husband visitation rights. This type of scenario often occurs when the ex-husband leaves his former wife for another woman. The world is a nasty place, and this scenario happens quite frequently. The embittered spouse often convinces the kids that dad is a reincarnation of “Satan.” It must be emphasized that a former husband has the right to visit with his children, regardless of the circumstances that led to the dissolution of the marriage. In some extreme circumstances, the court will even transfer custody if a parent is consistently denied visitation rights. This measure is only used as a measure of last resort
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