When a couple with children gets divorced, a parenting agreement is created to make the custody arrangement as easy as possible on all parties involved. The agreement is made when the parents share custody of their children. The agreement can be informal, but should be approved by a court in order to enforce them if issues arise. When the agreement is not followed, either maliciously or by mistake, it can be interpreted as parenting time interference.
A common form of parental time interference is known as indirect interference. This can occur in quite a few different ways, which include the following:
– Refusing to allow child to accept other parent’s calls
– Refusing to allow other parent to partake in child’s school activities
– Disrupting forms of communication between other parent and the child
– Asking children to spy on other parent’s personal life
– Disparaging the child’s other parent
– Forcing the child to refuse to see their other parent
Another common form of parental time interference is known as direct interference. Direct interference occurs when any of the following are present:
– One parent physically prevents the other from seeing the child
– One parent refuses to return the child to the other parent after a visit
– One parent moves the child to another state without permission of the court
– One parent cancels visitation days
– One parent fails to drop off the child at a scheduled time
Parental time interference can be prevented by both parents following the agreement that was put into place. If it does occur, it can be remedied using any of the following methods:
– Imposing court fees and fines on the parent who committed the offense
– Having the parent who committed the offense pay for education
– Ordering “make-up” parenting time
– Temporarily change the parenting time court order
Have you struggled with parenting time interference? An experienced family law attorney can answer all of your questions in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Source: FindLaw, “Parenting Time Interference,” accessed June 13, 2017