Set Your Priorities Straight
Video Transcribed: How can you handle a situation where you have a job that makes a normal visitation schedule difficult? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a father’s rights attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma here with Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable. And I want to talk to you guys about dealing with unusual work schedules that can make visitation difficult and how to handle that.
One of the most common ways that come up, by the way, is for folks that are long-distance truckers. That can be a problem for a normalized visitation schedule because if you’re on the road, clearly you’re not in a position to care for a child and no court’s going to put that kid in the truck cab to ride for seven, eight, nine, 10, 12 hours a day in your truck. So what do you do about that?
Well, there are a couple of options depending on what is most workable for you. Obviously, if you’re an owner-operator, you can work your work schedule around the visitation schedule so that during the time when you have the child, you’re not working. And that may mean you take some losses on money, but at least you get to see your kid.
Other options that you might consider if you work for somebody, see if you can get on a local route that doesn’t have you gone days at a time. And other options, of course, you could look into other career options.
What I can tell you long and short is, and this isn’t an easy thing to say, but if you are in a situation like that, you’re not going to, the judge is not going to order the kid to go the cab with you for long-distance truck rides as part of the visitation. That’s not going to happen. It’s not realistic, it’s not fair to the kid.
So if this is, if you are in that situation and the same with other jobs that keep you out on weird hours, the suggestion I have for you is to try to work your visitation and work schedules around one another so that they’re opposite. And if you really can’t, then you’re going to probably have to make a hard call. And what’s your priority?
If you have questions about that for an child visitation attorney in Tulsa, I would encourage you to go to dads.law, where fathers are not disposable.
