Special Events During Non-Visitation Times

Hi, my name is Clint Hastings. I’m an Oklahoma dads’ rights attorney here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I focus on father’s rights. Today, I’m going to talk to you about a question I get a lot, and that’s what do I do if I have a special event or occasion that I have planned for my child, but it’s not my visitation time, and mom won’t agree to let me do it. So she literally refuses to turn over the child for it because it’s her visitation.

This could be birthday parties, it could be sporting events, it could be concerts, it could be trips. The best thing to do, of course, is plan well in advance and try to work this out with mother. If need be, attorneys can get involved and try to work it out. We’ll talk about some other options though.

Understanding the Legal Ramifications

So first of all, if it’s not your visitation time, it doesn’t really matter that you have a special event. It would still technically be a violation of the court orders. The options for mother, if you, let’s say you have the child, and then the event was like the next day, so you don’t return the child when you were supposed to, and you go to the event. What could mom do?

Well, they could bring a motion for contempt against you, they could do a motion to enforce visitation orders, and these are where they’re asking the judge to reprimand you or get you in trouble, and if they win those motions, then you also may have to pay their attorney’s fees for having to bring those motions. So often it ends up on a, you know, kind of a slap on the wrist if it’s just one instance.

Seeking Alternative Solutions

However, you’re also creating a negative situation for your future times you want to do that, because now she’s really upset about it. At the same time, she’s kind of shooting herself in the foot because eventually it’s going to be that she was going to be on the other foot, and she’s going to be the one wanting the time for an event or something. Another thing to do is to get a parenting coordinator in your case.

That’s a third-party attorney that you both pay and you meet with them, and they help you communicate with each other and solve some of these little disputes that pop up during, and inevitably they pop up during a divorce and after. So they can do things such as guide a conversation as to, hey, let’s get it on paper that you’re agreeing for dad to do this this time, and he’s agreeing now to let you do it when it comes up on your side.

Consultation

So I hope this helps. Visit our website, Dads.Law. Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for watching.