Tips To Help Make Visitation Exchange Go Smoothly For You, Your Ex, And Your Child
Visitation Exchange Involving Children can often be Stressful after Divorce. Tips to make Parental Exchanges Trouble-Free for all!
It goes without saying that in most cases divorce is a difficult and an emotional time, especially when children are involved. Even though you may have worked out the details of “sharing” the children the actual exchange of the child/children can be a stressful time and can bring out the worst in the parents. Remembering what you both want is in the best interest of the children is so important! This blog article is going to offer tips to help ensure that the swap goes well.
BE PREPARED IN ADVANCE
First of all be prepared and plan ahead so that your child has all that he or she will need at your ex’s house. It is a good idea to have clothes, toys, and school supplies at both residences, but there are certain items that will most likely need to travel back and forth. In order to make the transition easier, try to get everything ready in advance to reduce the stress. Make sure any medications are … Read More... “Tips for Smooth Parenting Exchanges for Divorced Parents”
On September 3, 2011, I posted an article on the Ohio Family Law Blog about the “New” and “Improved” Montgomery County Standard Order of Visitation. At that time, the major change was in the way Summer Parenting Time was to be exercised. The Court decided that Fathers should have alternate weeks of visitation during the summer rather than being limited to just five weeks or thirty-five (35) days of visitation. Some Fathers have elected to take advantage of this change in the 
As a general rule, the payment of child support and visitation are two completely, separate issues in the eyes of the Court. Visitation rights are granted where it is in the “best interest of the child” to have such in place. They are not dependent upon the amount or payment of child support. Likewise, child support is determined according to the Child Support Guidelines and has very little to do with visitation. As a result, paying child support does not entitle a parent to visitation. And, if a parent has court-ordered visitation, it cannot be withheld because they have failed to pay their child support. However, in a recent case out of New York, the Appeals Court there held that support payments should have been suspended where the child was not required to abide by the ordered visitation schedule.
One of the most contentious issues that may arise in custody litigation is whether a non-parent has the right to exercise visitation with a particular child. Generally speaking, parents are imbued with an absolute right to determine who their child shall visit with under the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. This right was most clearly articulated in the United States Supreme Court’s seminal decision of Troxel v. Granville (2000), wherein the Court stated “so long as a parent adequately cares for his or her children (i.e., is fit), there will normally be no reason for the State to inject itself into the private realm of the family to further question the ability of that parent to make the best decisions concerning the rearing of that parent’s children.”