Virginia Cornwell is a Family Law Attorney in Columbus, Ohio.  She is an Ohio State Bar Association Certified Family Relations Specialist.  Her law firm practices exclusively family law. 

We hear this phrase all the time.  “I just want to see my children. That is what’s important, everything else comes second”.  We get it.  The good news is, with rare exception, courts almost always find that it is in the best interest of the child to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents.

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Each case has its own set of facts.  Everybody makes mistakes.  Parents have different parenting styles.  You may not parent the same way that your ex does, and your ex may not like this.  For various reasons, you may not have been as involved in your child’s life in the past as you would have liked to have been.  That does not mean you are not going to be part of your child’s life.  In Ohio, there are very few situations that will keep a parent out of his or her child’s life.

Some examples of those situations are:

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1.  The child has been adopted, often a step-parent adoption, and your parental rights have been terminated.

2.  Your parental rights have been terminated through a child protective services proceeding (aka children’s services)

3.  For whatever reason, a court has made an order limiting or prohibiting your access to your child.  These orders require that you had notice and an opportunity for a hearing.  Some (but not all) examples of situations where a court might make this order are:

• Domestic violence upon the child
• A finding that the child is abused, neglected or dependent
• A court order relating to the child was violated and the court believed this sanction was in the best interest of the child
• A court found that, for whatever reason, visitation was not in the best interest of the child

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Notice that child support is not on that list?  That is because being behind in your child support does not mean that you are not allowed to have visitation.  However, if you have a warrant out for felony failure to pay child support, you are running the risk that your ex will notify the police.

Sometimes, when a relationship ends, one parent uses the children as pawns in a battle between the parent.  The relationship between the parents has ended and now one parent wants the relationship between the children and the other parent to end as well.  This is not realistic, and is not an attitude Ohio courts support.  However, sometimes parents are determined to thwart the other parent’s relationship with the child, and, unfortunately, rather than seeking the help of an attorney, the parent on the “outside” simply throws his or her hands up and walks away from the situation for a while.

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This can be devastating for the children, and can create a rift in the parent/child relationship.  But, having made this mistake, Ohio parents should know that it is not too late.  You can still seek the help of the court to insert yourself back into your child’s life, and most of the time, the court will support this.  Depending on the age of the child, there may be a period of time where visits are short as the parent and child become reacquainted, and, sometimes, reunification counseling may be necessary, but most of the time Ohio courts take a “better late than never” approach to the situation.

If you are not spending the time with your children that you would like to, it may be helpful to meet with one of our Ohio Family Law Attorneys to discuss your options.

You can talk to one of our attorneys by calling us at 614-225-9316 to make an appointment to discuss your situation.

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