Your Child Visitation Rights in Wisconsin

About visitation rights in Wisconsin

Legally reviewed for accuracy by Attorney David Iancu

The information provided does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Talk to a lawyer today for legal advice

When one parent doesn’t have custody of the children, the other may still want their visitation rights respected. If you’re concerned about your chances to see your children, our attorneys can help you with your visitation agreement.

When you seek out a divorce, you might know that you can’t handle custody of your children alone. Having time with both parents can be vital to a child’s growth, reaching out to an attorney that is willing to help you protect your rights and has your child’s best interests in mind is vital. Our attorneys have offices in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Ozaukee counties and can help you manage the visitation process.

Who Has Visitation Rights?

Generally, a parent does have the right to see their children and spend time with them. Our attorneys understand that you may want to maintain a relationship with them even if you don’t share a home. However, your rights to visitation in Wisconsin may have some limits. Often times, the courts will need to decide whether your visitation would be in the best interests of the child. If the judge believes that the visitation will undermine the child’s relationship with their custodial parent, you may struggle to be allowed visitation.

As such, it’s important to have a lawyer on your side before you begin your fight for visitation rights. Several factors can affect your visitation rights so it’s best not to risk those rights. Instead, seek out an attorney who can help defend your rights.

Grandparents’ Rights

It may be that you aren’t seeking visitation rights as a parent but as a grandparent and you might be concerned that you won’t be allowed to see them, especially if the custodial parent is not your child.

Fortunately, grandparents do have some visitation rights in Wisconsin. While parents are expected to act in the best interests of the child, when dealing with non parental visitation, you may believe you are being unfairly kept from your grandchild, so you may need a lawyer.

For starters, you’ll need to file for a hearing to seek visitation rights for a grandchild. Typically, the paternity of the child will have to have been established, and the judge will determine whether your visitation is in the best interests of the child. Typically, a lawyer can help you prepare your defense and the reasons you should have visitation.

Enforcing Your Visitation Rights

When dealing with child visitation, former spouses may not agree with the visitation plan, and one may try to undermine the time the other parent spends with the child. Often, this issue comes from the other parent refusing to drop the child off with you, claiming the child doesn’t feel well, or otherwise making excuses to avoid letting you have your time with the child.

It can be distressing to lose that time with your child, so you’ll need to protect that time with them. Our honest, fair, and compassionate attorney can help you with this process. If you or your child are concerned about your visitation rights, you’ll need to document anything your spouse says or does about the agreement and take your case to court.

If you have proof that the custodial parent is withholding the child from you, you may be able to have your rights enforced. The other parent could face fines for their actions, and in some cases, they may even face jail time. Because it was decided during the divorce proceedings that visiting time was in the best interests of the child, taking away that time goes against their best interests.

Keep in mind that your former spouse may also try to affect the hearing by making claims about you. In cases which one parent is making claims of endangerment for the child, you’ll need to make sure that your attorney is prepared to defend you against these accusations as well.

What’s Next?

Getting a fair visitation agreement can be vital when you’re the noncustodial parent. You want time with your child, and that can be difficult when the other parent doesn’t agree. If you are a grandparent, your options for visitation aren’t as clearly laid out as if you were a legal parent.

Our attorneys at Karp & Iancu can help you untangle your visitation rights and what you can do to enforce those rights. You and your child may both need this time together, so we’ll help you fight back for that time.

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