Enforcing Child Custody in Long Island
Our Great Neck Lawyers Can Assist You Today
Child custody is an important issue that must be settled in the divorce process. Oftentimes, this decision is very emotional and an agreement is difficult to reach. If the parents cannot come to a solution on their own, a judge will have to get involved and make the decision for them.
There are two general categories of custody: physical and legal. Physical custody deals with where the child is actually living while legal custody deals with who has the authority to make decisions regarding the child's life. Such decisions could include:
- Education
- Religious affiliation
- General course of life
- Medical care
The parent who is not granted physical custody will be given visitation rights. A schedule will be set up for the visitation rights of the parent.
Do you need help enforcing a child custody agreement? Schedule a free case consultation today!
Contempt of Court
Unfortunately, the decisions the courts make concerning custody are not always followed by one or both parties. This can have serious legal ramifications. If your former spouse refuses to follow the custody ruling made by a judge, you can take action. The most common way of enforcing a court ordered visitation schedule is petitioning for contempt of court. This sanction can be imposed on an individual who has clearly and repeatedly refused to follow a court authority's order. When a person is found in contempt of court they can be fined or even be subject to jail time. The punishments that the party who defied the order receives will depend on the frequency and severity of the violation.
In the most severe cases, the physical custody arrangement may even be altered. The courts take the enforcement of custody and visitation rights very seriously. A continual refusal to adhere to the court's ruling could mean a revocation of physical custody rights. If your former spouse has continually breached the visitation schedule that the two of you agreed to, you should take action.
Work with Wisselman & Associates today!
At Wisselman & Associates, we want to make sure that child custody decisions are enforced. If your former spouse has blatantly disobeyed such a ruling and you do not know where to turn, you should call us immediately. Our legal team has over 150 years of collective experience among our associates. Over the years, we have seen how difficult child custody cases can be and we want to ease this process for you. We will fight for you to the end.
You should not stand for any infringements on your rights. Working with us will help to assure that the child custody decisions that have been established for your family are enforced. The maintenance of your relationship with your child should be the top priority in this case. Call us today.