Legal Question in Family Law in Delaware
out-of-state schooling and visitation
My 16 year old son is going to a military academy in a state other than which we live. He has limited weekend and holiday leaves, so visitation by either parent is limited as well. My son has medical, emotional, psychological issues that deemed it necessary to send him to this school. He is progressing very well, and in fact, has been almost a different (for the better) teen. He is learning values, morals, and has discipline that he found very difficult to attain at home. He has requested to continue his education there. His father and I do not communicate. He feels our son being there interferes with his visitation, which in fact, is the opposite. Our son calls us to come get him for his leaves, wants us to plan our vacations around his schedule, etc. It is our son who is making these decisions, not us. He has called his father on numerous occations to come get him, and for one reason or another cannot do so. So we also go get him on those occasions as well. His father is only 25 minutes further away than we are. Please tell me if I can be considered interfering with visitation. It states that he has him every other weekend. Thanks and God Bless!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: out-of-state schooling and visitation
I don't practice in your state, and state laws vary. Please consult an attorney if you have any questions.
Your state might treat this issue differently from mine, but I think any court would use common sense here. If Dad has an opportunity to pick up Son and passes, then Mom is not interfering with Dad's time if she takes that time. If one parent is somehow influencing Son to call that parent when it's the other parent's parenting time, then the court might see your extra time as interference.
It might be helpful if both parents notified the school that they want to receive school calendars. That way, both parents can map out their time well in advance and reschedule anything that interferes with their parenting time. If one parent chooses not to do that and, as a result, s/he isn't able to take scheduled parenting time, I can't see the court having a lot of sympathy for that parent.
When Dad gets to the point that this issue is important, he'll hire an attorney to file a formal objection to Son going to that school for that reason, and at that time Dad will show how that school interferes with his parenting time. Also at that time, Mom will respond and present evidence to refute Dad's allegations. Son can also have some input, depending on how your state handles children's input. Generally, though, until the complaining parent does something to cure the problem, it's just complaining.
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