Having limited parenting time is the hardest thing that a non-custodial parent faces. The child visitation schedule is actually determined by the court after the child’s custody falls to the other parent; it could be either mother or father.
However, the days after are unpredictable. The non-custodial parent may miss the visitation for various reasons, such as a busy work schedule, illness, emergency circumstances, or any other interests that they cannot skip, right on the day of visiting their child.
Missing a visitation once or twice is not a problem, but what if this continues several times? Well, if you’re in that situation, don’t think it will be okay. Of course, there will be things that come up later that make you lose.
Now, let’s figure out what if you, as a non-custodial parent, miss the parenting time!
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What Happens If a Non-Custodial Parent Misses Some Visitation?
Depending on frequency and other factors, a few complex problems will arise if you miss some visitation—the most significant of which is the bad relationship between you and your child. If left unchecked, this will worsen your relationship as a mother or father with your child. There’s no doubt if your child will not be close to you.
It may not matter for now, but look at when your child gets older. After all, you’ll still need your child in old age. This is why it is important to maintain the relationship between your children and parents, although you no longer live with them. However, this relationship can never be separated.
In addition to your relationship with your child being disturbed, other problems will also arise between you and the parent who has custody of your child.
Sure, they’ll be annoyed and angry if you, as the non-custodial parent, miss some visitation. Worse still, they may petition the court to modify the visitation order since you’re allegedly not complying with the court-ordered visitation plan.
The court will then look at whether you actually missed several visitations without notice. If you’re found to have ignored the visitation order, the court may reduce your visits or give you a warning that if you continue to miss visitation, the court will revoke your visits completely and even increase your child support.
What Should a Non-Custodial Parent Do If They Cannot Make a Visit?
It is important to let the parent who has custody of your child know that you will be missing scheduled visitation. Be sure to give a valid and reasonable excuse. Then, consider making up for missed parenting time on another day.
The problem is that you know you cannot visit, but you do not tell the other parent, let alone offer the option of visiting at another time. By offering this option, it at least shows that you are committed to visiting your child regularly, so they don’t miss out on co-parenting with the other parent.
Be sure to always be polite when communicating about making up missed parenting time. If you continue to not visit for the missed time, the other parent may refuse to let you make up the missed visitation time. If you are still accepted to change parenting time, this will encourage you to continue to disobey the court order.
Why You Shouldn’t Miss Court-Ordered Parenting Time?
Even though sharing custody and co-parenting can be hard since you need to maintain a good relationship with your ex, this is no excuse to skip parenting time. Sure, it is your responsibility to honor the legally binding agreement that the court has set. If no, you and even the other parent will be considered in violation of the court order.
Keep in mind that your children will grow up well emotionally if they have a healthy and active relationship with both parents, even if they don’t live together. Of course, you shouldn’t waste this moment.
This is why the courts step in and mediate the parent-child relationship through visitation orders and access times. Of course, these actions are in the best interest of the children. So, if you miss court-ordered parenting time, you can get into some trouble, both with your child, the custodial parent, and also the court.
Of course, there will not be a big problem if custodial and non-custodial parents have a good co-parenting relationship for the good of their children.
What If a Custodial Parent Refuses Your Visitation?
If there’s no reason for the custodial parent to deny your visitation, you can also take them to court. If you’re proven to have complied with the court’s parenting schedule and have done nothing wrong, the court may side with you and grant you more custodial time. Also, the court can punish the custodial parent with fines or even jail time.
In other cases, custodial parents have the right to refuse visits from non-custodial parents because they have a good reason to do so, such as when they find the non-custodial parent showing up drunk, under the influence of drugs, or displaying violent behavior, and they are concerned that the visitation threatens the safety of their child.
Why Does a Non-Custodial Parent Miss Visitation?
Some non-custodial parents who miss visitations have their own reasons, whether they’re real reasons or just made-up reasons. If you really cannot make a visit, it’s best for you to take the methods that we’ve mentioned above.
But you need to know that there’s another bad reason why non-custodial parents miss their visitation, and it relates to child support. Well, some believe that not making visits would relieve them of the obligation to pay child support.
In fact, the assumption is not true. If you do not visit, this will actually cause you to owe more alimony. However, the custodial parent will bear a greater financial burden because you, as the non-custodial parent, are not providing child support while in their care.
If you remain indifferent to these obligations, be prepared to suffer the consequences, which are that the foster parent will terminate your rights as a parent. If your ex remarries, their new partner may adopt your child, and you lose your child forever. The worst is you may be prosecuted for child neglect. So, think about it now!
To note: Having visitation rights when not living with your child is a privilege. Unfortunately, some parents do not appreciate and take full advantage of their visitation rights; they even prefer not to visit their children.
