Committed Brooklyn Family Law Attorneys Assist with Visitation Issues
Experienced New York City lawyers help parents assert their visitation rights
The seasoned family law attorneys at Goldberg Sager & Associates in Brooklyn represent clients who are seeking to gain visitation rights or to modify existing visitation orders. New York family courts typically encourage custody and visitation arrangements that allow children to spend quality time with both parents. In special cases, a court can also grant visitation rights to a child’s grandparents or siblings. Our attorneys advocate for arrangements that serve the best interests of children while protecting our clients’ parental rights.
Reputable firm represents custodial and noncustodial parents in family court
Though child custody and visitation are often grouped together, each involves different rights. A parent with physical custody provides the home in which the child lives and makes decisions about the child’s daily life. Visitation is designated for a parent who does not have physical custody rights, allowing parenting time with the child. A visitation schedule outlines the times, dates and locations during which parenting time can occur.
A person can be granted visitation rights as part of a custody agreement made during a divorce or as a separate legal matter. Visitation may be supervised or unsupervised. If you are granted supervised visitation, you will be able to see your child only in the presence of a specified third party. Supervised visitation orders are reserved for cases where the family court judge believes there would otherwise be a risk to the child’s safety.
One of our family lawyers can explain your options for seeking visitation or custody and can help prepare a visitation schedule to propose to the court.
Knowledgeable counselors advise on parenting time modification requests
Once a visitation schedule is approved by court order, the custodial parent must follow its terms. The parent or other person who is granted visitation also must follow the order and is not entitled to visitation at times outside the schedule without first working out an agreement with the custodial parent. Failure to comply with the terms of a visitation order can result in court-ordered sanctions or criminal charges.
Circumstances naturally change as children grow older and family dynamics shift. Though one-off or occasional changes in the parenting time schedule may be made without court approval, any substantial or long-term modification must be made through the court.
Courts are used to receiving requests for visitation modifications. You may seek a modification of the amount, schedule or conditions of parenting time. If you are the child’s parent and only yourself and the child’s other parent are on the current visitation order, you can submit a Custody/Visitation Modification Petition to family court. On the petition, you will have to explain how there has been a change in circumstances that justifies the need for a modification. This change in circumstances may be related to the child’s needs, your work schedule, the behavior of your child’s other parent or another factor.
A court will change the current visitation order only if a modification would be in the child’s best interest. Whether you are the custodial parent or a noncustodial parent or grandparent, it is wise to speak to a family law attorney about your visitation questions and concerns. One of our lawyers can help you prepare your petition, defend your parental rights and argue against visitation arrangements that you believe would be harmful to the child.
