Legal Question in Family Law in California

It may be time to revisit this court orders so you can redesign them to deal with this particular problem. Please meet with an experienced family law attorney to explore your legal options.

It's difficult to answer your question online. The facts of each person's case are different. At a minimum, any competent attorney would need to see what the orders are in your case before giving you specific advice so I can only address your issue in general terms. If the judge specifically ordered that the custodial parent not set up activities during the non-custodial parents time but they did anyway, it may create circumstances that warrant a change in custody or in parenting time among the parties.

The argument would be that the purpose of parenting time is for the non-custodial parent and the child(ren) to spend quality time with each other in order to bond. Although the particulars of your case may be different, you should argue that it is in your children�s best interests to have meaningful and quality time with yourself and that their best interests would be served by letting you schedule the activities during your parenting time.

Further, if the custodial parent is scheduling activities during your parenting time, it could be argued that this constitutes a substantial change in circumstances warranting a modification of custody, because there has been a substantial change in the children�s adjustment to their community and that if the custodial parent feels strongly that the children should be in the activities, it should take place during his/her parenting time.

It would be wise to seek counsel in a case like this. It would be too easy for someone appearing pro se to appear that they are arguing for their own best interests and not the best interests of their child(ren).

Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have need of legal representation.