What the law says about parental contact

by | May 3, 2017 | Child Custody |

A California divorced parent may feel like the child’s other parent shouldn’t have the right to call or otherwise communicate with his or her son or daughter. However, if there is an existing court order giving the noncustodial parent the right to do so, the custodial parent must comply. Failure to do so could give the noncustodial parent grounds to take the custodial parent to court.

If a custodial parent feels that the other parent is harassing the child through text, FaceTime or email, that may be grounds to have a contact order modified. For instance, a court may set a schedule as to when the noncustodial parent may have contact. To verify that harassment has taken place, it may be a good idea to document when it takes place. This evidence may be used to convince a judge to restrict the noncustodial parent’s access to the child.

In most cases, threats made to the child or to a custodial parent by a noncustodial parent need to be worked out through the family court system. This is generally true as long as the threats don’t rise to a criminal level. Therefore, it may not do much good to call police or seek other remedies before talking with an attorney or seeing a judge to resolve the matter.

Parents who are in this type of a custody dispute may wish to consult with an attorney. Legal counsel may help a parent craft an argument as to why the other parent shouldn’t be able to talk with or otherwise contact the child. However, it is important to realize that the court will care more about protecting the child’s best interest as opposed to indulging a parent’s wishes.