Your child is spending more time with the baby sitter than you? Consider a right of first refusal clause in your custody agreement.
Spending time with your children is the most important thing a parent can do. However, when people are no longer a couple this becomes harder for both parents to accomplish. Add into the mix the bitterness the parents might have towards each other and you get parents not spending the amount of time they could or should spend with the children. So, what do you do??
You can take the route of Daniel Hilliard and dress as an older British woman called Mrs. Doubtfire!!! However, you might not have the talent Robin Williams had when he created the character. You also should not have to go through such lengths to see your children. Lucky for you the laws in Pennsylvania have better ways of dealing with these situations.
In Pennsylvania custody is always modifiable. This means you can always ask the court to change something in the current custody arrangement. Then comes the challenge, how do I get more time awarded by a judge that already decided the current custody arrangement?
In Pennsylvania, physical custody takes many different forms. There are supervised visits, dinner visits, right of first refusal and more. This can all be a little confusing so let’s define each of the forms of custody listed above.
Supervised visits occur when the non-custodial parent spends time with their child in the presence of another adult responsible for making sure nothing goes wrong.
Dinner visits are just as described. This is when the non-custodial parent spends time with their child during the dinner hours and then returns the child to the custodial parent.
Right of first refusal is a little more complicated. If you have a right of first refusal clause in your custody agreement, then under certain circumstances the custodial parent must inform you of the need for someone to watch the child. Then you have the right to spend time with your child prior to the custodial parent acquiring a baby sitter.
These are a few tools a family lawyer can deploy to help you get the custody you deserve. You don’t have to dress up and act like a nanny just to see your children, you might just need to hire a good family lawyer.
An experienced family lawyer can help you navigate through the court system and develop a plan to allow the court to see you as the great parent you already know you are. LaMonaca Law is a family law firm that will educate you on the custody law in Pennsylvania and help you develop a successful plan to achieve your desired custody arrangement. Call LaMonaca Law at 610-892-3877 to schedule an initial consultation.
