When the court issues supervised visitation it allows a parent in a high-risk situation access to his or her child in a safe and supervised location. This usually applies to the non-custodial parent.
The State of California’s policy is to protect the best interests of the children whose parents have a custody or visitation matter pending in the family court.
When there are issues of protection and safety involved, a judge will order that a third party, or neutral party, be present during the visit. Supervised visits are used to protect the child from potentially dangerous situations while allowing the non-custodial parent to have a parent-child relationship.
Supervised visits are also ordered:
- To give an absentee parent a chance to be reintroduced to his or her child
- When there is a history of domestic violence or child abuse
- When mental illness concerns are present
- A parental threat of abduction
If you have been ordered to have supervised visits with your child and do not understand why, contact an experienced Orange County Family Law attorney who will explain the process to you and answer any questions you may have.
