Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon
I have full custody of my daughter, and I have suspsions that her father may be using drugs. Can I deny him visitaion? Also his Girlfriend has confirmed to me that she has in fact used cocaine. What can be done about that?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, you can deny him visitation. BUT..... keep in mind that when you do so, you will be defying, disobeying and violating a court order that requires you to make the child accessible father for visitation. This may result in your being held in contempt of court.
Before you deny him visitation, you would be well-advised to first obtain a court order that terminates or resticts his visitation rights under the existing order, so that your denying him visitation will be done with judicial approval. If you simply decidee to deny visitation on your own, you would be taking a legal great risk (unless you are confronted with an emergency situation that presents an immediate and substantial danger to the child�s safety if the child were allowed to go with father). So think twice before taking action on your own.
The fact that the child�s father is using drugs, by itself and without more, is not a sufficient basis on which to deny visitation. Of course, if he shows up to p/u the child and appears to be high on drugs, that would be a different story. Also, the fact that his girlfriend has confirmed to you that she has in fact used cocaine of is relevance, at least not without something more.