What are your rights as a non-custodial parent?

Even though you do not have primary custody of your children, it does not take away from the fact that you are still their legally recognized parent. You have a right to be involved in the child’s life, and the other parent is not supposed to come in the way of that.

Being aware of your parental rights as a non-custodial parent is necessary in protecting your place in your children’s lives. Below are some of them.

The right to spend time with your children

You may not have primary custody, but you could have visitation rights to see the children occasionally. Therefore, your co-parent is not supposed to prevent you from seeing the children or spending time with them according to the terms of the custody arrangement.

The right to access your children’s school or medical records

Being a part of your child’s day-to-day life is an integral part of parenting. As such, you have a right to access their school or health records under joint legal custody. Additionally, you need to be informed and provide consent to any drastic actions that will affect your child, such as changing schools or undergoing certain medical procedures.

Is your co-parent violating your parental rights?

If the other parent is taking advantage of their status as the custodial parent and constantly infringing on your rights, you need to take action and rectify that. You could turn to the courts for relief, whereby the judge can modify the current custody terms to suit the best interests of the children. For instance, tables could turn on your co-parent, and you may be awarded primary custody instead.

Learning more about how to handle such a situation will ensure that your parent-child relationship remains unaffected despite the differences you may have with your former spouse.