You and your spouse have divorced and it’s now time to start the next chapter of your life. The court has signed off on a child custody agreement, which you have been sticking to.
Unfortunately, you’ve found it tough financially after the divorce and you’ve fallen slightly behind on child support payments. You’ve tried to communicate with your ex about it and come up with a repayment plan, but they are making life very difficult.
Upon your next visit with your child, your ex informed you that they are not allowing it because of the missed payment. Are they legally entitled to do this?
Child support and custody are separate
There are potential penalties for missing child support payments, but this is a completely separate issue from child custody. If you are a responsible parent and there are no safety issues for your child, then you cannot legally be prevented from seeing them.
If you have been open and honest with your former spouse and the family court, then it should be possible to put a temporary arrangement in place until you get back on your feet financially. At the end of the day, if you are doing your best then you should not face punishment, especially the punishment of not seeing your child, which is not only detrimental to you, but to the child also.
You have a host of rights as a parent in Arkansas and if these are being violated then it’s important to act. If you’re being prevented from seeing your child, make sure you look into where you stand legally.