Every family and child custody situation will have specificities and nuances that will make it a unique process for everyone. However, depending upon where you live, all family law issues will be subject to the laws and state statutes that govern the process. For some parents and children, visitation is a step in the child custody process.
Again, not all parents will be subject to visitation in their child custody agreement, but it is right for some families. Often, if a father just received paternal rights, the next step is to establish a visitation schedule. It’s common for the visitation schedule to be a temporary step to establishing child custody rights. However, the basics of visitation must be met in order to move forward.
Visitation is sometimes awarded to a non-custodial parent who meets the prerequisites for a visitation schedule. Paternity must be established at this point. The family law judge must also determine that it’s in a child’s best interests to utilize a visitation schedule. There are two common types of visitation schedules, reasonable and fixed. Fixed is more exact, with a certain day, place, and time, while the reasonable schedule has more flexibility for the parents to decide.
For many parents, being awarded visitation rights is a big deal. It’s often what the parents have been working for, to have a relationship with their child. For many, it’s a step along the way to achieving child custody rights. However, visitation isn’t to be taken lightly, a parent must meet the requirements in order to move forward.