Custody Arrangements

Usually when a court gives one parent sole custody and the other either no visitation or restricted visitation or supervised visitation, it would be very detrimental to the children and the court with great reluctance will in fact grant one parent sole custody and the other supervised visitation or no visitation at all if there is substantial evidence that the children may be endangered or not taken care of by the non-custodial parent who may have certain impairments. The grounds that the court usually looks at, among others, is mental illness and substance abuse and neglect.

With Virginia being so close to an international airport plus the population of Virginia becoming so diverse that many people have married individuals from foreign countries where those individuals have substantial family ties to their home country, it is becoming more and more a real issue in domestic relation cases where the parent with ties outside the United States will either threaten or actually move back to their home country, whether it be Europe, Asia or the Middle East. Once a child has been removed to these other countries it constitutes a major obstacle in getting that child back. There are various treaties involved, such as the Hague Convention. If in fact the depository country is a member of the Hague Convention, there is a strong possibility that orders from our courts will be obeyed in that country. However, getting a former spouse or spouse who has departed from the United States to another country to obey the order of their home country where they are now residing in order to bring the child back can constitute a major problem if the party refuses to cooperate.

Again shared custody and visitation can take many different forms. If one party has custody of the children or if it is joint custody and the children’s primary physical residence is with one parent, then the other parent will have visitation. That can be as liberal as the parties can agree or it can be as restrictive as the parties want or it can be determined by a judge as can the custody. There is no fixed formula or determination as to what custody or visitation should be. Rather the guiding point should be what is in the best interest of the parties’ child/children.

This issue comes up more and more since residents of Virginia seem to be more mobile than most and are relocating for numerous reasons. The key here is that a court would permit a parent residing in Virginia to relocate to another state provided that it is the child’s best interest. Now that does not mean that it is in the parent’s best interest but rather what is in the best interest of the child. There are many factors that come into play and Mr. Kaydouh has substantial experience in litigating these issues. Generally the more contacts the child has in Virginia the stronger the case for the parent who opposes the relocation to keep the child within the State of Virginia. Should the court find that it is in the child’s best interest to remain in Virginia, the custody would probably be transferred to the parent remaining in Virginia.

Unfortunately, this is happening more and more where one parent decides that they are going to go to another state or foreign country and takes the parties’ child/children with them. An attempt can be made to stop this by going to court to seek emergency injunctive relief prohibiting the parent from removing the child/children from the area. Following that, there would be a full hearing as to the custody of the child/children and any visitation issues that arise at that time. No one should remove a child from the geographic area where the child has been living without an agreement from the other parent in writing or a court order.

Many grandparents today are in fact substitute parents for their grandchildren. Grandparents do have rights as recognized by the Code of Virginia in visiting their grandchildren and the courts recognize this more and more and there are various issues and factual situations which would be explained to you by Mr. Kaydouh should the issue arise. Children do benefit from a strong and loving relationship with their grandparents and the courts understand that.