COMMON EXAMPLES OF VISITATION ARRANGEMENTS

STORY #1: Robin and Sally are married and have three children. After Robin was incarcerated, Sally filed for a separation from Robin and requested sole custody, both legal and physical, of all the children. The judge granted Sally’s requests for both the separation and the custody of the children. Upon his release, Sally and Robin agreed on a reasonable visitation plan that allowed Robin and Sally to create their own visitation schedule without a judge. Every Sunday, Robin and Sally would meet at Sally’s home to figure out when Robin could see the children and for how long. This is reasonable visitation.

STORY #2: Robin wanted more time with his children each week so he asked if they could agree on a different visitation schedule. Sally and Robin were not getting along well since Robin’s reentry; Sally felt uncomfortable with giving Robin more time with the children so she said no. Robin went to court and asked a judge to grant more visitation with the children. Because Robin and Sally could not come to an agreement and the judge did not find any reason for denying Robin time with his children, the judge ordered a visitation schedule that provided the exact days and times Robin could spend time with this children. This is a scheduled visitation.

STORY #3: Sally asked the judge to deny Robin visitation with the children. Sally presented evidence about Robin’s behavior and the judge decided that Robin could not spend time with the children without supervision. The judge ordered supervised visitation for Robin. He was able to see his children twice a week, but the visits took plan at a court ordered place with someone designated by the court to supervise. This is supervised visitation.