Seeing and spending time with your children is a major part of a child's life, as well as an important part of child rearing. It is also a right of constitutional dimension. Visitation is an outdated term. It is now called "timesharing" and is a major component of any Parenting Plan. A schedule is created either by agreement of the parties or court order after a trial. That schedule allocates the time the children are to spend with each parent, including allocation of holidays, as well as over-night timesharing during the week and on week-ends. Failure to permit this timesharing could subject you to the contempt powers of the court. It could also form the grounds for modification of visitation in the future. Regularly failing to exercise time with your children could expose you to a claim for a modification of child support based upon increased expenses due to not exercising your time.

These issues can be quite contentious and emotional. Mental health professionals are sometimes involved. They can be asked to perform an evaluation of one or both of the parents to determine their parental capacity. Sometimes therapy may be ordered. This gives rise to the issue of privilege and whether or not the therapist should be permitted to testify if court becomes necessary. These issues are quite complex and you should ensure that you hire an expert family lawyer to assist you.