Legal Question in Family Law in Connecticut
Child Holiday visitation
I have sole custody of my 10 year old daughter. Her father and I had joint custody until about 3 years ago when he gave up his half in court. The reason he gave up his custody was that he was reenlisting in the military after 4 years out, and for some reason they told him he could not reenlist if he had any custody of a child. Anyway, over the last two years, he has only seen his daughter a total of four times. This is mostly due to his being in the military. He did spend a month with her this summer, which I agreed to but knew I didn't have to allow by law. He does not call or write on a regular basis, and he is now asking me to agree to alternate holidays with her. She has never been away from me on Christmas day, at least not in the morning. When she was very little her dad would sometimes pick her up late in the morning on Christmas. However, my question is, once he gives up his custody legally, do I have to honor our original custody agreement to alternate holidays, or is it now completely up to me when he gets to see her? Also, how good are his chances of regaining half of the custody should he decide to return to court. I appreciate your insights. PS My daughter and I live in VA, and he lives in CT (where we were divorced).
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Holiday visitation
The answer depends on what the second custody agreement/order says. If it says that, all though you have sole custody, the previous visitation order remains in place, then you should follow the previous visitation order.
Or, does it have language that states something like this: "Other than the terms of this agreement, all other terms of the final judgment remain in place." If so, the former visitation schedule may or may not still be valid.
Was a new visitation schedule put into place in the second agreement/order?
As you can see, it's difficult for me to give you a clear answer without reviewing both documents. If you have any question you can always return to court to clarify it.
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