Maintaining healthy connections with each parent and their extended family members can be possible for Connecticut children whose divorced parents can work together to allow reasonable visitation to occur. Reasonable visitation is intended to allow children and the noncustodial parent opportunities to maintain and nurture the relationship, and encourages both parents to keep in contact with each other, create realistic and reasonable visitation dates and times, and be understanding to a non-custodial parent’s requests to have the children for meaningful dates and events.
For it to be successful, both parents must put forth the effort to keep dialogue open so that requests to have the children during vacation plans, family gatherings and extended outings can be accommodated. Although the custodial parent has a slight advantage in determining whether the children are available to the noncustodial parent during a requested time frame, this should not deter either parent from continuing to work together toward an agreeable arrangement.
When deciding the best approach to visitation, both parents should take into consideration how well they are able to put aside their differences for the best interests of the children. If past grudges and vindictive natures arise, it may be harmful to the children who need the stability, love and attention that both parents bring to their lives. If cooperation and agreement between parents is not possible, a judge may order that visitation occur on a fixed schedule.
Because children benefit from having both parents in their lives, an attorney can give advice in seeking a remedy to a situation where children and noncustodial parents are being hindered from seeing each other. If a noncustodial parent’s visitation requests are commonly rejected by the custodial parent, a petition for a modification of the order can be filed.
Source: FindLaw, “Parental Visitation Rights FAQ”, accessed on Jan. 28, 2015