Many parents share custody of their children when they divorce or separate, as it is often in the children’s best interests to have regular and frequent contact with both parents. However, there are cases when it does not make sense for parents to share custody equally. This may not always reflect negatively on the parent who does not have custody rights. It may just not fit their lifestyle.
For instance, say that one parent has to travel frequently for work. They are always out of the country or at least out of the state, so exchanging child custody rights every other week is not realistic.
But that person is still a loving parent who wants to be involved with their child. The solution may be to give the other parent primary custody and then give the parent who travels visitation rights. When they are home and available, they have the ability to visit the child and spend a significant amount of time with them, maintaining their relationship.
Addressing safety issues
Supervised visitation is similar to this, but it means that someone else has to be there at the same time. This may be a social worker, for example, or the other parent may just stipulate that they also have to be present. The parent without custody rights does get to visit and spend time with the child, but not on their own.
This is something that Virginia courts will typically only use if they think there is a valid reason based on potential safety issues. An example could be if one parent struggles with drug addiction or alcohol abuse. Leaving the child alone with that parent could be risky, raising questions about how reliable they may be when taking care of the child or if they can provide safe transportation. But in a controlled environment, it can still be highly beneficial for that parent to get to spend time with their child.
It is important to consider these types of details when creating a child custody arrangement, and parents need to understand their legal options and parental rights.
