Visitation

      By Barb Warner

 Chances are if you are a single parent you are dealing with the issue of visitation. Even if you are a widow or widower you may still have issues dealing with visitation with your in-laws. Visitations are usually order by the court to allow the noncustodial parent time with their child/children. What type of visitation order usually depends on what is in the best interest of the child/children.

                The  standard visitation may consists of every other weekend, one evening a week , half the holidays a year, and 2 weeks during the summer. Some children have limited visitations with the noncustodial parent because the parent has a history of abuse or neglect and the court doesn’t feel that it is safe for the child to be with that parent. Also some parents live a long distance away and other arrangements need to be made.

                Another option is joint custody or co-parenting. Even if parents can no longer stay married to each other, their children will benefit greatly if the kids continue to have both parents in their lives. According to (National Marriage Project, 2012)children who experience their parents divorcing are more likely to drop out of school, get in trouble with the law, be sexually active at an earlier age, have more difficulty in school, and have emotional problems. All these difficulty are diminished if the children can see their parents get along and if they have time with both parents. In Dr. Kyle Pruett’s book ,Father Need  he states “Half-time and quarter-time fathers express more satisfaction and feel more competent than fathers who have limited visitation with their children.” (Kyle Pruett, 2000, p. 110) It is not the divorce that is so hard on the children but the conflict. Children do better with both parents even if it is one at a time. The custodial parent also gets a much needed break if the other parent takes over for a while.

                My recommendation is if both parents are responsible and loving and the children are safe with either parent then the parents should work out a visitation schedule that allows the children to have as much time as possible with the noncustodial parent.

Works Cited

National Marriage Project. (2012, January). Retrieved February 23, 2013, from State of our unions: nationalmarriageproject.org

Kyle Pruett, M. (2000). In Father Need (p. 110). New York: Broadway Books.