Interesting article in yesterday’s New York Times about parents using the other parent’s occupation [one involving moderate-to-high risk of exposure to COVID-19] to justify emergency relief changing custody or denying visitation. Evidently some family courts are accepting this argument and granting relief on this basis, under their belief that they are protecting children from COVID-19 […]
Archive for the ‘Visitation’ Category
Some guidance from the South Carolina Governor on visitation in the COVID-19 era
A few weeks ago I blogged about visitation denial in the COVID-19 era, as many of my clients had questions on whether they could deny or demand visitation. More than a few South Carolina parents have used this crisis as a justification to deny visitation. That blog was an acknowledgment of my uncertainty and an […]
Visitation denial in the COVID-19 era
COVID-19 is the first airborne global pandemic to take place since the development of specialized family courts in the United States. Never before has mandated social distancing interacted with the awesome contempt powers of family court visitation orders. Thus, I am getting numerous questions about complying with visitation orders from custodial parents who are considering […]
Applying prior, more restrictive, version of grandparent visitation statute, Court of Appeals still affirms award of grandparent visitation
The September 5, 2018 Court of Appeals opinion in Grantham v. Weatherford, 425 S.C. 111, 819 S.E.2d 765 (Ct. App. 2018), addresses the application of South Carolina’s Grandparent Visitation Statute, S.C. Code § 63-3-530(A)(33). However, while granting maternal grandparents (Grandparents) visitation with their grandchildren, it does so under the 2010 amendment to that subsection, which […]
Can non-custodial parents delegate their parenting time to third-parties?
An issue that commonly arises in interpreting custody orders is whether the non-custodial parent is allowed to delegate his or her (in this culture, mostly his) visitation to third-parties during his custodial periods when the custody order is otherwise silent on the issue. South Carolina case law remains silent on this dispute. However, while acknowledging […]
Help T. Ryan Phillips get Baker v. Hardwick published
I would love to see the May 24, 2017 Court of Appeals opinion in Baker v. Hardwick get published. Not just because T. Ryan Phillips and I share office space; not just because I referred him the appeal that he turned into a victory reversal. Baker establishes an important legal principle: the outer limits of […]
The danger of rushing into custody agreements with the seriously mentally ill or substance abusing
Folks hire family law attorneys not only expecting to have their domestic disputes resolved, but expecting them to be resolved quickly and inexpensively. The method to accomplish this is to reach agreements. Thus most litigants want their attorneys to be thinking settlement early in the process. For most domestic disputes this is a reasonable expectation. […]
Court of Appeals affirms contempt finding against mother who didn’t force children to visit
Calling bullsh*t on custodial parents who let the children decide their visitation is one of my most controversial and by far my most commented-upon blog. In that blog I argue that it is the custodial parent’s job to require the children spend their court-ordered visitation time with the non-custodial parent (assuming that parent wants to […]