What Can You Do If Your Spouse Won’t Let You See Your Kids?
For parents, the inability to see their children can be devastating. Unfortunately, children sometimes are used as weapons during a separation or divorce. If you are not getting along with your spouse, he or she may try to withhold the children from you. Your options in this situation vary depending upon the circumstances.
If you already have a custody agreement in place, then your spouse must abide by the agreement. If you do not have a custody order or parenting plan in place and your spouse won’t let you see your kids, you need to go to court and get a custody agreement. An experienced Las Vegas, NV divorce and family lawyer at Pintar Albiston LLP can help you to take appropriate legal action to protect your relationship with your children. Call today to schedule a consultation and learn more.
What if Your Spouse Won’t Let You See Your Kids?
If your spouse won’t you see your kids, you need to use the legal system to protect your access to your children. If you have a custody order and/or parenting plan created as part of a separation or a divorce, then you may have several different options. You can go back to court and seek to have the order enforced. If your spouse refuses to come to court or does not comply, he or she could be held in contempt of court and potentially jailed. You could also speak with local law enforcement to get help enforcing your custody arrangement. In some cases, a parent who withholds access to children, hides the children or leaves with the children can actually be charged with parental kidnapping.
If you do not have a custody order in place and your spouse won’t let you see your kids, then the process of securing access to your children may become more complicated. You will need to petition the court and ask for custody. You and your spouse may be sent to court ordered mediation where you try to come to an agreement yourself about custody, or the judge may evaluate the evidence presented during litigation and decide how custody should be divided. The judge will assess what is in the best interests of the children when deciding how parenting time should be shared and what visitation is appropriate.
In almost all situations, it is best to allow the child to continue seeing both parents. This means unless you are unfit, or have been engaged in abusive or neglectful behavior, petitioning the court to create a custody agreement should ensure you get some access to your children.
If there is already a custody agreement in place that does not guarantee you access to your children, then there may be little that you can do if your spouse won’t let you see your kids. In this situation, you have no legal right to your children and your spouse has no obligation to you. You would need to petition the court to modify the custody order and show that the circumstances have changed so you should be given visitation now even though you did not have custody rights in the past.
An experienced Las Vegas, NV divorce lawyer at Pintar Albiston LLP will help you to take the appropriate legal steps if your spouse won’t let you see your kids. Call today to schedule a consultation and learn more.