Interference with Contact/Visitation Abuse

720 ILCS 5/10-5.5
Unlawful Visitation Interference

Even after the parties have entered into a visitation agreement or after the court has issued a visitation order, parents have been known to make visitation difficult on one another.  In cases where a parent is denying the other parent contact with a child during scheduled time or failing to return a child on a scheduled day is considered visitation abuse and can have serious consequences handed down from the court.  But sometimes visitation interference is less obvious, like when the custodial parent who holds ill feelings toward the non-custodial parent and other times it is the non-custodial parent who does not adhere to the schedule.  Either way this is a situation that if not addressed quickly can get out of hand and become an unpleasant environment for the child. 

There have been cases where one parent will make unexpected changes to the ordered schedule at the last minute, or sometimes child pick-up and drop-off times are not followed.  Many times this is meant just to annoy the other parent, but both parents need to understand that this behavior can have a negative affect on the child.  If any of these situations occur, it is in the best interest of the child to have the problem resolved even if it means getting the court involved.  It may be necessary to contact the local authorities and file a criminal complaint.  After the authorities have reviewed the facts of the complaint a judge may need to restrict, limit or modify the original order.

See Also:

Reluctance or Refusal to Visit a Parent

Denial of Visitation in Extreme Circumstances

Helping Children Deal with Visitation 

Child Representation