5.2 Common Visitation Issues

Common visitation issues are:

• Initial establishment of visitation in a divorce, custody, or paternity action
• Supervision or restriction of visitation because of family violence, parental unfitness, or physical or sexual abuse
• Modification or change of visitation
• Relocation of the domiciliary parent and need to adjust visitation
• Contempt for violation of visitation orders
• Access of non-parent relatives to visitation

Sometimes, a client may present for an intake asserting that the other parent is seeking “custody” when what is actually being sought is visitation. When counsel explains the difference, this may satisfy the issue and put the client in a more amicable mindset. Thus, it is essential to know the difference between custody and visitation.