During exchange of a child for visitation does the non-custodial parent need to be present or can they send anyone to pick up the child for them?
Question Details:
I'm the custodial parent and the mother is the non-custodial parent with visitation rights. We live 3 1/2 hours apart and instead of picking up our son she wants to send people to come and get him for her weekends (her parents or grandparents) instead of being present herself. The child's mother threatens to call the police if we do not allow the child to go with her family members and says we would be arrested for not allowing visitation. The last thing we want to do is deny her visitation but we feel she should be present for the child and not treat him like a package. Is she legally right?
She is within her rights unless your decree states otherwise. Go to the Indiana Judiciary Web Site located at www.in.gov/judiciary. Up at the top, there is a section entitled library. If you highlight that section, you will find a list of rules, etc. You can downloada copy of the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines from that list. Read them. There is a provision in there concerning parenting time when distance is a factor. There is absolutely nothing stated in there that requires that the parent be present for the exchange.
