Enforcing Visitation: Legal Options When Denied Access
So, you’re in a situation where your child doesn’t want to visit with you—or at least part of the time doesn’t—and you feel the mother isn’t encouraging or prompting the child enough to attend visitation. Can you bring a motion to enforce visitation?
Hi, I’m Tulsa men’s child custody attorney Clint Hastings. I practice here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I focus on fathers’ rights, and I’ve been practicing for about 25 years.
The Importance of Addressing the Issue
This is a difficult issue because it’s often not clear why the child doesn’t want to visit. If the child is claiming abuse or inappropriate treatment, that needs to be addressed separately—possibly through therapeutic visitation to work through the conflict, or through litigation if there are serious allegations.
But let’s assume there’s no abuse—maybe it’s just conflict, disagreements, or even dislike of your new girlfriend or wife. Can you file a motion to enforce when the mother says, “I can’t make her go”? Well, it depends on the age of the child. No one expects a parent to physically force a 10-year-old or 14-year-old into a car. By about age 6 or 7, it already becomes difficult.
Legal Requirements and Options
So what’s the mother required to do? There’s an Oklahoma appellate case that addressed this. The statute on enforcing visitation allows motions when the other parent denies or interferes with visitation. The court interpreted those words literally—denial or interference does not mean failure to encourage or prompt. So, as long as the mother offers visitation, facilitates transportation as required, and doesn’t actively block it, a motion to enforce isn’t proper for failure to encourage.
In that situation, the better route is to ask the court for therapeutic intervention. That could mean the child sees a therapist alone, reconciliation therapy where you and your child go together, or supervised therapeutic visitation where a professional observes visits to understand what’s going on.
Seek Legal Counsel Today
All right, I hope this helps. These are complicated issues, and you’ll want solid legal advice. Give Tulsa visitation enforcement attorney Clint Hastings a call at 918-962-0900—we’d be glad to consult with you and help you through it.
