Custody and Visitation and COVID-19
Custody and visitation and COVID-19. Where to begin? Among other things, COVID-19 has complicated custody and visitation arrangements for parents going through the divorce process or subject to a custody or visitation order. Here are some quick suggestion to help you navigate these issues:
- Be a good communicator and be transparent. It’s vitally important that you communicate with the other parent about your child’s symptoms and the households’ risk factors. Full disclose will help ensure your client’s care is optimal. Perhaps it goes without saying, but you should follow the CDC recommendations and exercise good hygiene.
- Be flexible, understanding, and generous. Each of us is adapting to the changing rules and limitations being put in place to address the spread of the virus. Now is the time to put aside your differences and work together. If reasonable accommodations need to be made to visitation times or custody times, provided those accommodations are requested in good faith, you should consider giving the other parent the benefit of the doubt. Everything you do should be guided by the child’s best interests. For more on that click here.
- DO NOT attempt to leverage COVID-19 to improve your custody or visitation position. While it’s reasonable to expect Fairfax County Circuit Court and Loudoun County Circuit Court to be tolerant of minor violations of custody and visitation orders, I strongly suspect courts will have little patience for parents who use these tragic times to mask or rationalize poor behavior.
Most family law firms, like ours, are continuing to work remotely. Please feel free to send us an email or schedule a video chat.