Can visitation be denied to a non-custodial parent?
Yes, but this occurs only in extreme cases. When one parent has abused or neglected a child, placed the child in dangerous situations, threatened removal of the child from the state, or abuses alcohol or illicit drugs, this parent's right of visitation can be denied and the other parent awarded sole legal custody and sole physical custody. Denial of visitation is not the norm and strong evidence must be presented in a court hearing to deny a parent from having any visitation rights.
In less extreme cases, visitation could be allowed but subject to certain restrictions. For example, a court order an alcoholic or drug addicted parent to refrain from use of alcohol or illicit drugs in the presence of the child and submit to regular alcohol and drug tests to show that s/her is "clean." A parent who has been accused of neglecting a child in the past or threatening to take the child away from the other parent may have visitation restricted on the basis that it take place only when supervised by a qualified third-party (so called "supervised visitation"). Supervised visitation is preferred to denial of visitation on the basis that there is a strong public policy to promote continuing and frequent contact between the child and both parents -having the visit supervised is better than completely denying the non-custodial parent the ability to spend time with his/her child.
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