5.4 Procedural Posture for Visitation Orders

Generally, visitation is decided in a divorce or custody lawsuit. Interim and temporary (only during the duration of the protective order) visitation may be decided in a domestic violence protective order lawsuit. However, a visitation order in a protective order case is time-limited and may need to be finalized in a divorce or custody lawsuit.1  A court that has jurisdiction and venue to decide custody may set or restrict visitation at the trial or on the hearing of a motion to determine custody and visitation. Litigation costs can be minimized if the parties amicably work out a visitation schedule. In interstate custody disputes, a Louisiana court may not have jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) to modify a custody (or visitation) determination of another state’s court. Nonetheless, a Louisiana court without UCCJEA jurisdiction to modify may issue a temporary order enforcing or implementing the visitation schedule or visitation provisions of a child custody determination made by another state.2

• 1For further discussion of this point, see Section 5.1.2 of this manual’s chapter on representing survivors of domestic violence.
• 2For further discussion of the UCCJEA, see Section 4.10.