Child Custody / Visitation / Contact
Special Situations
I am divorced and have custody of both children from my marriage. My ex-wife hid her past as a drug addict from me when we met but during our short marriage she started to use drugs again. Our marriage broke down because of her drug addiction. We divorced and I was awarded custody of the children. She was awarded visitation rights, and the children were supposed to stay with her alternate weekends . Because her condition has deteriorated she is not capable of keeping to the visitation schedule and when the children do visit her it is a disaster. She takes drugs while they are there, and her friends, who are also drug addicts, drop in all the time. The children see their mother in a pathetic state and are exposed to the world of drugs. They don’t want to visit her and beg me not to ‘force them’. Their mother says I am turning them against her. I am sure the exposure to this could cause them permanent damage if it continues. Can I take legal action to cancel or reduce the children’s contact with their mother ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Unusual Visitation ArrangementsYes ! Where a father has custody over children and the mother is a drug addict there is no doubt that the children are at great risk and could suffer permanent emotional damage as a result. Where damage has been caused – or is likely to be caused in the future – the custodial parent can apply to the court for the cancellation or reduction of the non-custodial parent’s visitation rights. If a plea like that is made the court will appoint a professional (social worker) to make a report and recommendations about visitation rights should be cancelled or reduced until the mother is ‘cured’ of her drug addiction. A mechanism for the monitoring the mother’s rehabilitation will be developed and a follow-up report ordered. Visitation rights , if retained or re-introduced , are likely to be held at a special ‘communication centre’ where they will be supervised.
I got custody of my daughter because her mother is a prostitute. When I met my wife she was a bit ‘freaky’, believed in ‘ open marriage’ and was always out to earn ‘easy money’, if she worked at all. When we divorced she was quick to ‘give up’ custody of our daughter as she didn’t like responsibility and wanted an easy life. The court judgment awarded her visitation rights and our daughter, now aged 4, stays overnight with her mother once during the week and every other weekend. Recently her mother told me she had started studying – and was paying her way through college by ‘receiving clients’ at home. I know that she has at least a client a day, and sometimes more . I cannot bear the thought of my daughter being exposed to lifestyle her mother leads. What legal action can I take legal action to cancel or reduce her contact with her mother ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Unusual Visitation ArrangementsA father who was awarded custody of his child because her mother was a prostitute or escort girl can apply to the court for a cancellation or reduction in visitation rights. The father’s case would be that if the child is exposed to her mother’s prostitution she is at risk, and could suffer permanent emotional and/or psychological damage as a result. If a plea like that is made the court will appoint a professional (social worker) to make a report and recommendations regarding whether there should be a cancellation or reduction in the visitation rights while the mother carries on this lifestyle. Visitation rights , if retained or re-introduced , are likely to be held at a special ‘communication centre’ where they will be supervised and the child will not be at risk .
If the non-custodial parent is mentally disturbed can the custodial parent get visitation arrangements changed to stop the couple’s child staying overnight with the non-custodial parent ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Special SituationsYes! The custodial parent can apply to court for a change in visitation rights to cancel overnight visitation and , if necessary, unsupervised visitation. Clearly, evidence would have to be presented to show that the non-custodial parent is mentally disturbed and that the minor would be at risk if the current visitation arrangements were not changed.
How can a child still see the parent they do not live with if it is not safe for some reason for them to be in their charge even for a short period ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Special SituationsIf for some reason it is not safe for a child to meet their non-custodial parent without supervision visitation meetings can be set up a special “communication centre” in the neighbourhood. The visitation meetings are supervised by a professional and the child is not placed at risk. Communication centers are suitable when the non-custodial parent is violent, a drug-addict, a sexual deviant or suffers from severe emotional or psychological problems.
I am the father of a new-born baby, and have no objection to being registered as the father, providing I can have a relationship with my son as he grows up. The mother, with whom I only had a short affair, lives with her parents. I desperately want to see my son, but cannot do so at her parents’ home They are extremely hostile and antagonistic towards me, full of accusations and blame, and I do not want to expose the baby to such an unpleasant atmosphere of shouting .The mother is not willing to meet me alone. Where would a suitable venue be, and what legal action should I take if she is uncooperative ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Special SituationsIn these circumstances the most suitable venue would be a communication centre operated by the local municipality. If the mother is uncooperative, the father can apply to the family court for visitation rights. He has a constitutional right to exercise his parental role, even if he is not married to the mother and even if he does not live with her. Likewise, the child has a constitutional right to know who both his parents are, and to have a relationship with them, whether they are married or not, and whether or not they together.
Can a father, who is banned by a court order from entering the family’s home or from harassing his family, see his children without breaking the law?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Special SituationsYes, it is normal for the court issuing the protection order to delegate its powers over visitation to a social worker who can arrange for contact between the father and the children , usually at a special communication centre, while the order is in force.
My ‘ex’ is serving a long prison sentence . I object to him seeing our child in prison because I am frightened that it will expose her to psychological danger. Her father comes from a well-known underworld family . Her father has threatened legal action if I refuse to bring our daughter to see him in jail. If I refuse, am I likely to succeed in the long run in keeping her away?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Special SituationsNo. Tel Aviv Family Court overruled objections given by a mother and ex-wife to a plea for visitation filed by the father regarding their year old baby. The mother argued that taking the baby to see his father in jail would put him at physical risk as both his father and uncle were in jail and ‘on the books’ of rival underworld gangs who wished to ‘settle scores’. The court rejected this argument, and said that heightened security at the prison would put the minor at less physical risk than if visitation were exercised outside. She held that a social worker would set visitation , at the prison if the mother were willing to take the baby there, or at a communication centre or at the mother’s home to coincide with the prisoner’s leave.
Does a parent who is serving a prison sentence still have a right to see his/her minor child, even in jail ?
Child Custody / Visitation / Contact •Unusual Visitation ArrangementsYes. As long as a non-custodial parent is not stripped of his/her role as the minor’s natural guardian he/she is still jointly responsible with the custodial parent for certain functions including emotional development and must act in the child’s good. Being imprisoned does not deprive a non-custodial parent of his/her rights as a minor’s natural guardian.
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