There are many different potential child custody situations. In some cases, parents are given joint custody, where they have to share both physical parenting time and legal decision-making ability. In other cases, one parent will get sole custody, which could mean that they have the sole power to make these decisions or that they live with the child 100% of the time.
Often, when sole custody is used, the court will also set up some form of visitation for the other parent. This could be supervised visitation, meaning that a social worker, the other coparent or another individual has to be present at the same time. Why would the court make this type of determination?
Keeping the child safe
Supervised visitation can be useful, but it’s generally just used when the court thinks that the child may be in some form of danger or at risk. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the parent with visitation rights would put the child at risk on purpose. They love the child and want to be involved in their life, and the court is specifically using visitation so that they still have a chance to maintain that relationship.
An example of this could be if one parent struggles with drug addiction. This addiction eventually pushes the couple to get divorced. It has also led to legal issues, such as impaired driving charges. The court may think that, because of the addiction, it’s not safe for that parent to be around the child on their own. Supervised visitation provides a way for that parent to connect with their child and spend time together, even though another adult is present to ensure that the child is always safe, to provide transportation and things of this nature.
Child custody can be complex, especially when issues like this are present. Those who are going through the legal process need to know exactly what rights and options they have.