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Who has to provide transportation for child visitations?
Anonymous2 views3 answers
My childs father has moved since our parenting plan was established. The child lives with me and visits his dad every other weekend. The plan reads visitation will be "as mutually agreed upon" by the parents. When the plan was created we only lived a few minutes apart. Now, it is closer to an hour and a half round trip. Previously, he has been the one that has done the pick up and drop off. I dont mind doing my share of the driving, but he is telling me i have to provide all the transportation and on his schedule. Is there a precident that says since he moved it is his responsibility? If I dont provide the transportation and a visitation is missed are there legal reprocussions? this is not a fixed visitation schedule.
The court is not expecting you to be a taxi service, especially if the other parent was the one who moved and has the means to provide transportation.
Given the change in circumstance, either parent likely can ask the court to take another look at the parenting plan. Your current parenting plan may also provide a method for dispute resolution before the court is involved.
If the parents can talk with each other and come to an agreement, that likely would be less expensive and quicker than more formal procedures.
If the court order actually states "as mutually agreed upon", it would be unlikely that the court would find you to be at fault if you reasonably cannot agree to "provide all the transportation and on his schedule". Gas is costing quite a bit now. Somebody has to pay for the expenses.
You should look over the parenting plan to see what its provisions are, especially the dispute resolution part .
You should review your specific facts with your attorney.
Since the language in the PP says "mutually agreed", if there is no agreement your remedy is to use the Alternate Dispute resolution provisions in the plan to come to an agreement. If no agreement is forthcoming, you'll need to file a Petition for a minor modification of the PP in order to resolve the issue. As the P is now, it is too vague to resolve any dispute.
Hope this helps
Most parenting plans in Washington have a dispute resolution clause. This is usually mediation. You should tell your ex that you want to go to mediation over this issue. If he refuses, then you must file with the court. The move is a reason for an adjustment to the parenting plan. (This is an important point -- the word in Washington for this situation is "adjustment" not "modification".
I hope you can clear this up through mediation so you don't have to spend more money.
