Reluctance or Refusal to Visit a Parent

When a Child is Reluctant or Refuses to Visit a Parent who has been granted visitation, parents can feel an urge to grant the child’s wishes.  This can be an emotional and difficult matter for the parents to deal with.  Remember, it is the parent’s legal obligation to facilitate visitation, and courts have found parents in contempt of visitation interference even when testimony showed that they were trying to appease the child.  However, this is more likely if the court senses that the custodial parent has influenced the child.

In a few rare cases, the court has determined that the child/children were in violation of visitation interference and punishment was handed down.  The most notable of these cases was heard by the Illinois court in 1996; the case of Heidi and Rachel Nussbaum who at the ages 8 and 12 were ordered into foster care for one week.  The Illinois appellate court ruled shortly after that although the judge had the authority, he should have considered an alternative such as citing the custodial parent.  See (Case #)

See Also:

Denial of Visitation in Extreme Circumstances

Interference with Contact/Visitation Abuse

Helping Children Deal with Visitation 

Child Representation