Legal Question in Family Law in Rhode Island

You can file a Motion to Modify Visitation in the court. I understand that you don't want to return to court but if the child's father has court ordered visitation then you must return to court to modify it. You can't change the visitation unilaterally by your own decision.

While I am not unsympathetic since I am an advocate for children, You mentioned quite a few things here. Other questions were not answered. Though there are other questions here are the questions that I believe would be most relevant under the circumstances

(1) What is the age of the child?

(2) What did the child actually witness?

(3) Did the father have time to prevent the child from seeing the detrimental things?

Remember that the visitation is between the father and the son. Even if the father lives in the same household, if the father could not prevent or did not have time to prevent the son from seeing Grandma slit her wrists then there may not be a basis for asking the court to reduce the overnights.

If the visitation every weekend has occurred while you were supposedly aware about everything else (except Grandma slitting her wrists) then you acquiesced to the rest of the conduct. To bring it up at a later date to prevent overnight visits may not be viewed by the court as a reasonably substantial change in circumstances warranting a change in visitation.

Now, if the visitation for the father is not spelled out in a court order and you are the designated placement parent by a court order, then you normally have the right to talk to the father and let him know that his overnights need to stop for a while for the benefit of the child. Keep in mind that if the child has a good bond with his father, then you do not want to damage that bond just as the father should not be damaging your bond with your son.

As for avoiding court, it can't be done that way if it is to be done properly. If the visitation is spelled out in a court order you will have to file a Motion to Modify Visitation alleging that there is a substantial change in circumstances that warrants the modification. You should, however, spell out the circumstances in your motion that constitute the "substantial change in circumstances."