NYC Modification of Visitation Lawyers

NYC Modification of Visitation Lawyers

If a party to a divorce must give up money or property to resolve a case, they know that they’re likely to recoup that loss sometime in the future. It’s only an issue of real or personal property. A non-custodial parent’s right of visitation is one of the most sensitive issues that can be determined in a divorce case though. Because the best interests of the child control, visitation issues can be considerably more complicated and take substantially longer to decide than matters of property rights and responsibilities. Our law firm stands ready to help you in drafting or modifying a visitation agreement that operates in the best interests of your child.

Visitation pursuant to agreement
In most cases, the parents of a child are able to reach some type of an agreement without the burden of hearings on visitation issues. That agreement is then put into written form and signed off on by the parties. It’s then incorporated and merged into the court’s final order and judgment. When the parties are unable to reach an agreement on visitation, a court will hear the evidence on the issue, and it will enter an order based on the child’s best interests. In either case, there might be a time in the future when one of the parties to the divorce wants to modify a prior visitation order.

Changed circumstances
Upon proper notice and motion, either party to a divorce can petition a court for a modification of a visitation order that was previously entered, but he or she must show that a “substantial change in circumstances” has occurred since the date of entry of the court’s prior visitation order. That change might involve the parent, the child or both. Without a proposed agreed modification, the court will be required to hold a contested evidentiary hearing to determine if a proposed modification operates in the best interests of the child who will be affected by any modification. Grounds in support of changed circumstances might be shown by:

• A change in financial circumstances
• A change in a child’s health
• Proposed relocation of the child
• When the request is from a child more than 12 years of age
• If a child has been found to be abandoned, abused or neglected

A mere desire to make a visitation schedule more convenient for either of the parties won’t likely be considered. The change in circumstances must be substantial enough that it necessitates the time and expense of petitioning to modify because of it.

At the time of a divorce, it can be difficult to know what visitation agreement might operate in the best interests of a child in the future. Changed circumstances might arise even years after getting divorced. You might feel that your visitation agreement is now outdated, and it no longer provides you with sufficient visitation. Since children change too, that’s not at all unusual.

Our New York City modification of visitation lawyers can be of great help to you in modifying an existing visitation or parenting time order Although we’re often able to do that through negotiation, we’ll aggressively pursue modification through the courts if we have to. Remember that courts encourage frequent visitation by a non-custodial parent, especially if both parents live in the same locality. Modification isn’t impossible if you give the court good reasons. We’ve modified visitation provisions of divorce cases that were entered many years ago. If you’ve become aware of the fact that modification of the visitation provisions of your divorce could necessary, you can contact us, and we’ll arrange for a confidential consultation at our offices where you can speak freely of your concerns. Your change in circumstances might be a realistic reason for modifying a visitation order.