Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Visitation refusal by child

Until changed, any court order dictates the terms of visitation. In the absence of such an

order, it is between you and your husband to agree upon visitation as you and he have joint custody.

In the event of the latter, you should discuss the matters with your child's father and attempt to

obtain agreement, then have a visitation agreement prepared. If father does not agree, you can seek to

have joint custody modified, or to have any court ordered visitation modified, which ever is applicable. If there is court

ordered visitation, you need to comply with the terms of the order or risk being held in contempt of court.

The largest single unaddressed issue that becomes apparent from your stated facts is, "What is the reason behind why you son does not want

to be in the presence of his step-mother?" If abuse is suspected, then you may want to handle this in another manner.

Re: Visitation refusal by child

You haven't mentioned the details of the court order granting you physical cstody. Does the order provide details about visitation times, or has that been a matter for un-ordered agreement between you and him? If there is no specific visitation order, you may feel free to let your son decide whether to go for a holiday visit. Since you have joint custody, the father should be contacted to discuss the situation, and since you have worked to maintain a good relationship with him, the two of you may be able to find a solution. It may be that both your son and the stepmother need to be aware of the problem in their relations and that they need to be involved in finding a solution. If you can't get anywhere by talking, I would not advise you to not send your son for the visitation, since you are the one who might be in contempt of court (depending on the details of the order). You need to explain that to your son. If your son is desperate to not go, you could file a petition for a change in the visitation, but that takes time, and you would need to explain to your son that until a change is ordered, he needs to go. If the situation is so intensely bad that your son is threatening drastic action, ask for an emergency hearing, if you can't convince the father that real harm might be the result of forcing the boy to go. Another possibility: Try to suggest a visitation with the father on a camping trip or somewhere away from the stepmother.