How to Track Parenting Time Failures
Parenting time failures take place when your co-parent interferes with your time with your child or when your co-parent fails to show up for their scheduled visitation times with your child.
- 2 min read
- custody
- family law
A parenting plan carefully lays out how you and your co-parent will care for your children, but what should you do when one parent fails to adhere to the parenting agreement? Parenting time failures take place when your co-parent interferes with your scheduled time with your child, or when your co-parent fails to show up for their scheduled times with your child.
Types of parenting time interference
Parenting time interference can occur in many ways. Some examples of how your co-parent may be interfering with your time with your child include:
- Refusing to let you see your child
- Not dropping off your child at scheduled times
- Canceling visitation days
- Not allowing you to speak with your child on the phone
- Preventing you from attending your child’s school or extracurricular activities
- Manipulating your child, so he or she doesn’t want to spend time with you
- Speaking poorly about you in front of your child
- Moving your child to another state without your permission
These are all common examples of parental alienation, which contributes to parenting time failures. The court takes these types of parenting time interference violations very seriously. It is in the best interests of the child to have a strong relationship with both parents. Actions that the courts might take to remedy the situation range from make-up parenting time and changes, to parenting time orders, to fines and potential arrest or imprisonment.
Types of parenting time failure
If your co-parent fails to show up for their scheduled time with your child, this is a parenting time failure. Examples of how a parenting time failure can occur include:
- Consistently showing up late or not at all for pick-ups
- Canceling scheduled physical custody days
- Not attending your child’s school or extracurricular activities
- Moving to another state without the court’s permission
The court takes parenting time failures as seriously as parenting time interference. If a child feels abandoned or neglected by a parent, it can take a psychological toll. While you may want the court to give you sole custody if your co-parent consistently fails your child, the courts are more likely to order mediation, counseling, supervised visits, or potentially even fines.
Tracking parenting time interference or failure
It is important to carefully track the dates, times, and types of parenting time failures that are occurring with your child’s other parent. If you are using TalkingParents to track communications with your co-parent, you can easily keep private notes regarding parenting time failures or interference through our Personal Journal feature. Anything you would like to keep private can be documented in this tool so you can reference it later.
Many co-parents run into parenting time failures at some point due to unexpected changes in their schedules, life circumstances, or emergencies. Ideally, you and your co-parent can communicate in a civil manner and resolve the time failure issues on your own. If not, turn to the courts for help as quickly as possible, as it is in the best interests of your child to have time with both parents.