Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

Re: visitation

Dear Law Guru Friend,

That is a good question. I am a lawyer who handles custody matters, but I do not know the answer. My immediate thinking is that for this one time you should go ahead and attempt to negotiate an agreement with the custodial parent (your ex-wife) to meet you half way. Failing in this, I would have them back home on time, lest you have problems later for violating the custory order. Then I would start negotiating to have such a half-way stipulation included in the permanent child custody judgment. If she won't agree to anything, then take her back to court to have the court do it. What parish in Louisiana was the child custody order (judment) rendered in? What city is the parish seat of that parish? Maybe I could be of help. I am easy to contact in Lake Charles. Best of luck! I hope I have provided some guidance. I almost forgot to mention that it is the practice of the courts, as I have noticed it, to enter such half-way stipulations. Seems to me courts (judges) favor such arrangements. It makes sense. Also, it makes sense that when you have custody of the child or children, that your child support payments should be suspended. However, my understanding is that unless you have this stipulation made a part of the judgment, that you might end up having her claim you owe her back child support and might end up actually having to pay it if she takes you to court to collect it. Of course, if you were to contact me again about this, I would have the time to research and/or investigate into these issues for some more definitive answers. Maybe Mr. Pizzolatto or Mr. Casanave will jump in and add a little light to what I haver offered. Both of them are very good Family Lawyers, probably my betters. However, I have the experience on them, and experience instructs even fools (EXPERIENTIA DOCET STULTOS.)

Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Hardy Parkerson, Atty.

Lake Charles, LA

LA Bar No. 10327

Federal Bar No. 22275

(337) 478-6126

Re: visitation

If you had normal visitation, that is, every other weekend, 1/2 of all holidays, and an extended period in the summer, then the court ordinarily gives a month support break spread over 12 months. Since you have chosen to move away from your children, and you cannot exercise the full visitation, it is doubtful that you would get a break in the support. You can file to modify the custody order and see if the court would grant some relief concerning transportation of the children between the parents in the summer. However, being realistic, the court will take into consideration who moved away from the children and will not penalize a parent who did not cause the separation of the children and their parent by making them pay for the expenses or being inconvenienced by the problem of visitation taking place in another state. Had the cp done the moving, the circumstances would be different. Simply put, the parent who was the reason for the distance and expense will usually have to bear that burden.