If a parent refuses to follow a court-ordered parenting plan in Arizona without good cause, the other parent may ask the court to enforce the order. Depending on the circumstances, the court can order make-up parenting time, find the violating parent in contempt, require counseling or parent education, impose financial penalties, order mediation, and take other steps designed to protect the child’s best interests.
A parenting plan is more than an informal agreement about where children will spend their time. Once incorporated into a court order, both parents are generally expected to follow its terms unless they mutually agree to a change or the court modifies the order.
Occasional scheduling problems happen in many families. However, repeatedly denying parenting time, refusing exchanges, keeping a child beyond the scheduled time, or otherwise interfering with a court-ordered parenting arrangement can become a serious family law issue.
What Does It Mean to Violate a Parenting Plan?
Parenting plans can address much more than which parent has the children on particular days. Depending on the order, they may establish regular parenting time, holidays, vacations, transportation and exchanges, communication, and other responsibilities involving the children.
Potential problems can arise when one parent repeatedly:
- Refuses to make the child available for scheduled parenting time
- Picks up or returns the child significantly outside the agreed schedule
- Keeps the child during the other parent’s parenting time
- Interferes with holidays or vacation time
- Refuses to cooperate with required exchanges
- Makes unilateral changes to a court-ordered schedule
- Prevents or significantly interferes with the other parent’s court-ordered parenting time
Whether a particular action constitutes a violation will depend on the language of the existing order and the circumstances involved.
Can One Parent Just Change the Parenting Schedule?
Generally, a parent should not simply decide that the existing court-ordered parenting schedule no longer applies.
Arizona courts have emphasized that parents must comply with existing parenting-time orders unless they agree otherwise or the order is modified. Even a parent with sole legal decision-making authority does not automatically have the right to unilaterally change court-ordered parenting time.
If the current arrangement is no longer workable, modification may be appropriate. But changing the schedule on your own and obtaining a legal modification are two different things.
What Can You Do If Your Ex Refuses Parenting Time?
When a parenting-time problem occurs, one of the most important considerations is whether it is an isolated disagreement or part of an ongoing pattern.
Keeping clear records may be helpful. Depending on the situation, this could include documenting missed exchanges, dates when parenting time was denied, relevant text messages or emails, and attempts to resolve the issue.
If the problem continues, a parent can potentially ask the Arizona family court to enforce the existing parenting-time order.
Arizona law provides a specific process for addressing a parent’s refusal, without good cause, to comply with a parenting-time order. The court gives the alleged violating parent notice and an opportunity to be heard before determining whether a violation occurred.
What Can an Arizona Court Do When a Parent Violates Parenting Time?
Arizona law gives family courts several options when a parent refuses without good cause to comply with a parenting-time order.
Depending on the circumstances, the court may:
- Find the violating parent in contempt of court
- Award make-up parenting time for missed parenting time
- Require the parent to complete a parent education program
- Require family counseling
- Impose certain civil penalties
- Require mediation or another appropriate form of alternative dispute resolution
- Issue another order that promotes the child’s best interests
Arizona law also addresses court costs and attorney’s fees associated with parenting-time enforcement proceedings.
The appropriate response will depend on what occurred, whether the conduct was justified, whether it has happened repeatedly, and the overall circumstances of the family.
Can a Parent Lose Custody for Violating a Parenting Plan?
A single parenting-time disagreement does not automatically mean that a parent will lose legal decision-making authority or parenting time.
Repeated or serious interference, however, can become relevant in future custody and parenting-time proceedings.
When Arizona courts make decisions about legal decision-making and parenting time, they are required to consider the child’s best interests. One of the statutory factors is which parent is more likely to allow the child frequent, meaningful, and continuing contact with the other parent, subject to important exceptions involving good-faith efforts to protect a child from domestic violence or abuse.
A documented pattern of intentionally interfering with the child’s relationship with the other parent can therefore become important beyond the immediate enforcement dispute.
What If a Parent Has a Good Reason for Not Following the Parenting Plan?
Not every deviation from a parenting plan is necessarily an intentional violation.
Emergencies and legitimate safety concerns can create circumstances in which following the normal schedule becomes difficult or potentially inappropriate.
Arizona’s enforcement statute specifically addresses situations in which a parent refuses to comply without good cause, making the circumstances surrounding the alleged violation important.
Safety concerns involving domestic violence, abuse, or a child’s immediate well-being should be treated differently from ordinary disagreements about parenting time. Parents facing an urgent safety situation may need to consider appropriate legal remedies rather than simply treating the issue as a routine scheduling dispute.
Can You Withhold Parenting Time Because Your Ex Owes Child Support?
Parenting time and child support are separate legal issues.
A dispute over unpaid child support generally should not be handled by independently denying court-ordered parenting time. Likewise, a parent who is being denied parenting time generally should not respond by deciding to stop paying court-ordered child support.
Each issue has its own enforcement procedures.
Trying to solve one violation by creating another can make an already difficult family law dispute more complicated.
What If Your Ex Is Constantly Late for Parenting Time?
Not every late pickup or delayed return will necessarily justify court intervention. Families encounter traffic, work conflicts, illnesses, school activities, and unexpected circumstances.
A repeated pattern is different.
If one parent is consistently hours late, repeatedly fails to appear for scheduled parenting time, regularly returns the children outside the ordered schedule, or uses timing issues to interfere with the other parent’s parenting time, documenting the pattern can become important.
The specific language of the parenting plan also matters. A detailed order may make expectations about exchanges much clearer than a plan containing broad or ambiguous terms.
Should You Modify the Parenting Plan Instead?
Sometimes enforcement is not the only issue.
A parenting plan created several years ago may no longer fit a child’s school schedule, activities, developmental needs, or the parents’ current circumstances. In those situations, the underlying problem may be that the existing parenting arrangement needs to be reconsidered.
Arizona courts determine modifications of legal decision-making and parenting time according to the child’s best interests and applicable Arizona law.
The important distinction is that a parent generally should not treat an outdated or inconvenient parenting plan as though it has already been changed. Until an enforceable order is modified, the existing order remains important.
What If Your Ex Won’t Follow Your Arizona Parenting Plan?
Persistent parenting-time disputes can be frustrating, especially when they begin affecting your relationship with your child.
The appropriate response depends on the terms of your parenting plan, the nature and frequency of the violations, whether there are legitimate safety concerns, and whether the existing order still meets your family’s circumstances.
Understanding your options can help you determine whether the situation calls for enforcement, modification, or another approach.
Talk With a Phoenix Child Custody Attorney
If the other parent is refusing to follow your parenting plan, denying your parenting time, or repeatedly interfering with your court-ordered schedule, Hernandez Family Law can help you understand your options under Arizona law.
Our Phoenix family law team represents parents in child custody, parenting time, enforcement, modification, and other family law matters throughout Phoenix and Maricopa County.
Contact Hernandez Family Law to schedule a consultation and discuss your parenting-time concerns.
Frequently Asked Questions About Parenting Plan Violations in Arizona
What happens if a parent doesn’t follow a parenting plan in Arizona?
If a parent refuses without good cause to follow a court-ordered parenting-time arrangement, the other parent may ask the court to enforce the order. Depending on the circumstances, the court can order make-up parenting time, contempt, parent education, counseling, mediation, civil penalties, or other appropriate remedies.
Can my ex deny me parenting time in Arizona?
A parent generally cannot simply disregard court-ordered parenting time because they disagree with the arrangement. If there is a legitimate safety concern or another serious issue, the appropriate legal response may depend on the circumstances and existing court orders.
Can a parent get in trouble for keeping a child from the other parent in Arizona?
Yes. Unreasonably denying, restricting, or interfering with court-ordered parenting time can have legal consequences. Arizona courts have several enforcement options when a parent refuses without good cause to comply with a parenting-time order.
Can a parent lose custody for violating a parenting plan in Arizona?
A parenting-plan violation does not automatically result in loss of custody or parenting time. However, repeated or serious interference may become relevant because Arizona courts consider the child’s best interests when making legal decision-making and parenting-time determinations.
Can I withhold parenting time if my ex doesn’t pay child support in Arizona?
Generally, child support and parenting time are separate issues. A dispute about unpaid child support does not automatically authorize a parent to deny court-ordered parenting time. Each issue has its own legal enforcement process.
What should I do if my ex repeatedly violates our parenting plan?
Consider keeping clear records of missed parenting time, exchanges, communications, and other relevant incidents. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to seek enforcement of the existing order or determine whether modification of the parenting plan is appropriate.