visitation if parent is not present?

[Momster]

i have physical custody of my 3 children. ex-husband has pretty generous visitation rights. not too long ago my children were scheduled to be with him for the weekend, but he was going to be out of town until sunday afternoon. he felt the kids should go to his house anyway (he is remarried), even though he was not there. was i legally obligated to have the kids go there for visitation, even if he was not there? (i live in IL if that matters)

 

[CdwJava]

What does the court order say?

If it specifies he must be present, then I would suppose you are not obligated to drop them off. Otherwise, you are likely stuck. I doubt the order says he must be home and present with them the entire time they are visiting, either.

Will they somehow be harmed by being alone with the new wife? Can you articulate this fear of harm to a court? if so, then you might consider going to court to get the order modified to reflect this fear (if reasonable).

What did you do on that weekend?

Don't take action out of spite or anger as that rubs off on the kids. If there will be no reasonable harm, then why start a war when there is no reason?

- Carl

 

[Scooterdog]

i have physical custody of my 3 children. ex-husband has pretty generous visitation rights. not too long ago my children were scheduled to be with him for the weekend, but he was going to be out of town until sunday afternoon. he felt the kids should go to his house anyway (he is remarried), even though he was not there. was i legally obligated to have the kids go there for visitation, even if he was not there? (i live in IL if that matters)

For one weekend, I wouldn't worry about it. If it turns out, visitation after visitation he is not there, then you may want to petition for a modification of the order.

I question as to why he would burdon his wife with the kids if he's gone. Seems a bit odd. Unless of course, the wife of the ex wanted them over for the weekend.

This is a tough question as it seems to have happened only once. AS CdwJava pointed out, is it worth a battle over? I mean, if the kids don't really mind(something new to do for the weekend) and the other woman cares for them, heck, why not.

We all hate to let our kids go, but in the end, you don't want them to blame you 10 years down the road for keeping them from dad and the new wife. I would coast along and see what happens. If it becomes a problem, then do something. If there is no real problem, then personally, I would let it go for now and not stir up a hornet's nest just yet.