Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Ncp (mother) lives out of state. she has seen the child (now age 12) once in 8 years for her visitation, which was 4 years ago. There has been no contact between the mother and child since 2008, no birthday presents, christmas, etc..nothing. The ncp does send a summer visitation request letter(she gets 4 weeks) every summer asking for her visitation. Court order states she cannot have the child the week of July 4th which is the fathers vacation time every year. Of course every summer her request includes that time frame, when she is told we have every intention of providing her with her visitation but she must choose dates not to include that week she says "your denying" me, and thats the end of her...until the next summer!..is there a certain length of time that if there is no contact, in years that we can legally not let the child go for her visitation. What are the legal rights of the child who doesn't even know this "mother" anymore? she has not finacially suppoted the child in one year.Child support enforcement has that case. Any suggestions?


Asked on 5/09/12, 11:07 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hughes Hughes Law Firm, P.A.

Hello and welcome to LawGuru.com. I would be happy to help answer your question. To answer your question. In a situation where one party has not exercised his/her visitation in many years. The other spouse may want to apply for a modification of the current parenting plan. In the state of Florida one can apply for a modification of a parenting plan based on a substantial and continuous change in circumstances. Once a court is willing to consider a modification the court will then determine whether a modification is in the best interests of the child. To determine the best interests of the child the court will look to a number of factors including the past relationship with the child and each parent. In the case where one parent has failed to exercise visitation rights for a number of years, this will definitely be considered by the court in making a determination. Good Luck and please remember to contact me in the future with any paid questions you may have and i would be happy to answer them. Good Luck to you and thanks.

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Answered on 7/09/12, 12:44 pm


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