DETAILED VISITATION TRANSPORTATION PLANS ENSURE SAFE EXCHANGES

Detailed Visitation Transportation Plans Ensure Safe Exchanges

When a marriage ends and one or more children are involved, the divorcing parents often reach joint custody agreements. Joint customer means regular visitation to the other parent, which raises transportation issues. Those issues are even greater when the divorced spouses live a great distance apart and a simple car ride across town will not suffice. Virginia family law allows for detailed visitation transportation plans to enable safe transportation from one parent to another.

Common elements in a visitation transportation plan

A good visitation transportation plan should detail which parents are responsible for which types of transportation and the location where the child exchange occurs. If both parents have safe and reliable transportation but have personal animosity, a neutral location should be chosen. When the breakup is relatively amicable, then more direct transportation to the other parent’s home might be fine.

The plan should detail which parent is primarily responsible for providing transportation, acceptable modes of transportation, and any safety equipment that might be needed, such as a child safety seat. When one parent is going to be late for a planned visitation exchange, the visitation plan should outline how the two parties should communicate and prevent unneeded drama. The visitation plan ultimately is the best way to ensure affected children can enjoy time with both parents in the safest possible manner.

Refusing visitation transportation plans violate court orders

When a Virginia family law court enters a transportation plan, that plan is part of the final court order detailing child custody matters. When one parent refuses to abide the visitation plan, that parent is in contempt of court and violating the agreement. A judge could intervene and alter the order if needed to correct the matter and hold the offending party accountable of its actions.

An experienced family law attorney in Virginia’s St. Tammany Parish might be able to help you to reach a reasonable visitation transportation agreement. If one already is in place and your former spouse will not abide it or your situation has changed and a revision is in order, an attorney can help you get it done.