When you are going through a custody disagreement, it is important to make sure that you uphold your end of the agreement. If you don't hold up your end of the agreement, you could face consequences.

Minimal Violations

For minimal violations, such as one party arriving a few minutes late to pick up or drop off a child, there are not likely to be consequences imposed by the court. Generally speaking, being a few minutes early or late to the exchange of your child will not endanger your child in any way. The judge may remind the late party that being punctual and respecting others' time is important, and may ask the party to call if they are going to be even a few minutes late. With minimal violations, a verbal warning may be all that results. You may have to come up with a plan on your own to deal with minimal violations like being a few minutes late to drop off times, perhaps by looking at it as an exchange window instead of an exchange time for the custody of your child.

Moderate Violations

Moderate violations are where you are going to see the court step in more. Examples of moderate violations are things like a parent constantly canceling on taking care of their child or always asking to move around the time when they see their child. These types of violations do not escalate to the point of criminal crimes, but will be looked upon negatively by the court because they have a negative impact on your child. When a child is denied a relationship with one of their parents, it has a negative impact on them. These types of violations can have a negative impact on the party that engages in these actions. They could see their visitations restricted, drawn back, or greatly reduced due to repeated moderate violations of the child custody order.

Extreme Violations

Extreme violations are cases where a parent forgets to pick up a child, and leaves them somewhere unsafe, or when a parent takes a child and takes them over state lines in an attempt to keep the child from the other parent. In the case of abandoning a child or abducting a child, not only will there be consequences in court for this behavior that will negatively affect that parent's access to the child, but law enforcement will be involved as well. A parent could face fines and even prison for this actions.

Make sure that you fully understand the child custody order that is in place with the courts. Work with your attorney to ensure that you understand the child custody order, and do your best to always fulfill your responsibilities under the order in order to ensure that you get as much time with your child as possible. Contact a family law attorney, like Scott Lyons Attorney at Law, to learn more.