Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

out of state visitation/restrictions

My brother is divorcing his wife after 17 years of marriage. They have 3 children, under 8. He has lived in California for the past 3.5 years where he works, and he intends to reside there permanently. He has made an average of 1 trip per month to visit the children in that time (in addition to extended holiday visits.) The parenting plan the mother has proposed is highly restrictive -- allowing for only one week of visitation in California per year after the children turn 6 (two are under 6,until the children are 12, at whch time he may have 2 weeks of visitation. He gets no major holidays now or in the future. There is also a clause which states that for every child he wishes to have visitation with in CA, he must have made 6 trips back to Missouri where they reside with their mother, in the preceding 6 months. Bottom line: VERY restrictive plan. Father is not a ''bad actor,'' there have been no substance abuse or other parenting ''fitness'' issues, he has provided very well for the children and their non-working mother during the marriage and continues to do so. The question is, is this plan ''reasonable?'' The quid-pro-quo of the visits back to MO in order to ''earn'' visitation in Ca seems highly unusual and to me, unconstitutional.


Asked on 4/20/04, 10:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: out of state visitation/restrictions

This question should be submitted to an attorney who practices law in Missouri. That would appear to be the home state of the children. Thus Missouri would be the propert state to exercise jurisdiction over the children. Although such a visitation plan would probably not be made in California the law in Missouri may be much different.

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Answered on 4/22/04, 12:40 am


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