Question:
What severe action can be taken against a custodial parent who prevents the non-custodial parent having contact with the child – and refuses to co-operate with any court initiatives to encourage visitation and consistently breaches court orders ?
Answer:
When all alternatives fail, then in an extreme case the court can order the custodial parent to be imprisoned for contempt of court, as happened in Ashdod in 2003. For over three years the mother had prevented the father from having any contact with the daughter, and had consistently refused to co-operate with court –appointed experts and social services staff who had tried to establish some relationship between the two. The mother had been determined to cut the father off from the daughter completely , causing the latter emotional damage ,the court held. Given the total alienation between the two parents and the extreme circumstances of the case, there was no choice but to imprison the mother immediately for contempt of court and for a framework to be found for the daughter so that she could receive appropriate treatment.
In the most extreme cases, a parent who prevents a child seeing the other parent can even lose custody.
Strategy For Parent Living Abroad When Arranging Visitation Impossible
Question:
I live in the States. My ex-wife got permission to emigrate to Israel with our child , leaving me with generous visitation rights. Whenever I try to arrange flights for Israel so that I can see my son my ex-wife’s behaviour is just impossible. She deliberately tries to torpedo my plans to visit by making it impossible to make arrangements. What can I do ?
Answer:
A non-custodial parent living abroad who finds that the other parent is making it impossible to arrange to see the minor can first report this to the Central Authority provided for under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction , by which both the United States and Israel are bound, and file a plea for the implementation of the visitation rights at a family court in Israel.
Court Intervention For Respect of Visitation Rights
Question:
Can anything be done to make a father who does not keep to the visitation schedule properly, respect it, and to make the social worker appointed by court to control it, make sure the arrangements are kept ?
Answer:
Yes, the custodial parent who is unhappy with the way visitation is taking place can apply to court dealing with the case to intervene in connection with the fact that the visitation schedule is not keep to properly , and to give the social worker appropriate instructions.
Furthermore, if the court gets the impression that visitation is not taking place then it can reduce or restrict it, and if an appropriate plea is filed on the matter, the court can also increase the maintenance the custodial parent receives for the child.
Grandparents – Legal Action Over Visitation
Question:
What action can grandparents take to see their grandchildren if their ex daughter-in-law is so unco-operative that in practice they are denied any contact ?
Answer:
File for visitation rights at the family court.
Grandparents Can Demand To See Grandchildren Privately
Case:
Our son suffered a bitter divorce. Our ex-daughter-in-law has custody and refuses to let us see our grandchildren without her presence – and only in her home. We would love to entertain them in our home, or take them out for a treat, as we used to do prior to the divorce but she refuses and starts taking it out on our son, too, if we “step out of line” and dare to ask about this. Do we have a right to meet our grandchildren without their mother’s presence ?
Answer:
Yes , however grandparents will have to file a plea for visitation if their ex daughter-in-law, who is the custodial parent, refuses to allow them to meet the grandchildren, or , if so, only in her presence , or under very restricted conditions. The court can then decide on visitation rights – and how they should be exercised.
Grandparents’ – Usual Visitation Rights After Parental Death
Question:
Our son passed away. When he was alive we were never very close to our daughter-in-law, though we were to our grandchildren. Although she kept up contact during the first year after our son’s death, she seems to have gradually drifted away. She and the children celebrate all the festivals with her parents, and we just don’t get to see the grandchildren. Is it acceptable for visitation rights to be formally set in such circumstances, and if, so, how often can we expect to see our grandchildren ?
Answer:
Yes, it would be quite acceptable for a court to set visitation rights between grandparents and grandchildren following submission of a plea to this effect, regardless of whether the father is alive or not, whenever contact is denied, provided this is in line with the recommendations of a court-appointed social worker and/or agreement between the parties.
As a guideline , the frequency of visitation rights between minors and grandparents set is usually less than that set between minors and a non-custodial parent, though each case would be decided on its merits .
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