A lot of time and effort goes into creating a custody agreement that focuses on a child’s best interests. When a parent refuses to stick to that custody agreement, he or she is not only violating the agreement, but also making things much harder for the child. This is why promptly addressing custody interference is essential.
Interference can occur in two different ways, direct and indirect. Direct interference refers to a number of different behaviors, including canceling visitation or not dropping a child off as scheduled. In drastic situations, a parent who engages in direct interference actually prevents his or her child from seeing the other parent. This could take the form of refusing to return his or her child to the other parent or even going against a court order by moving to a different state.
Indirect interference might be less obvious than direct interference, but it is still problematic. An example of indirect interference is when a child is not allowed to answer phone calls from his or her other parent. Disrupting a child’s communication with the other parent in other ways counts, too. Sometimes a parent will even make it impossible for his or her ex-spouse to get involved in extracurricular or school activities.
Child custody agreements are supposed to protect children’s best interests even after their parents divorce. Unfortunately, some parents in Alabama purposely go against what those agreements say. Even if custody interference seems minor or insignificant at first it can quickly spiral out of control, so approaching the court about this problem should generally happen sooner rather than later.
