Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
My daughters father has every other weekend visitation but he now works Sunday morning. She therefore stays with his girlfriend even though I want to take her. Can I legally take my daughter back Sundays?
1 Answer from Attorneys
This is an issue of selecting a babysitter - any person, whether family or not, who watches the child in the absence of a parent - and how the Court generally views these disputes. Generally, unless a person presents a danger to the child, a Court will not allow one parent to tell another parent who can fill that role (imagine if your daughter's father said he would take the child whenever she is staying with your parents?).
If however there is a better schedule that can be arranged, you can petition the Court to modify the visitation schedule, but I would never advise anyone to violate an existing the Court Order as it usually results in having to pay costs and attorneys fees and sometimes having a modification entered that puts you in a worse position..