8.16 Post-decree

• Library: Virginia Family Law: A Systematic Approach (Virginia CLE) (2018 Ed.)

8.16 POST-DECREE

8.1601 Access to Records. Sometimes the noncustodial parent encounters difficulty learning about the child's school performance or health care. Section 20-124.6 grants parents broad access to records concerning their children. If counsel anticipates that the client may have a difficult time gaining access to the child's records, counsel should consider asking the court to specifically order the other parent to provide information about the child. ¹⁸⁰ Regardless of which parent has custody, a parent may not be denied access to the academic records of the child, except by a court order based on a showing of "good cause." With regard to the child's health records, the parent may be denied access (i) if ordered by the court for good cause or (ii) if the child's treating physician or clinical psychologist has included a written statement in the child's health record that access may cause substantial harm to the minor or another person. ¹⁸¹ In L.C.S. v. S.A.S., ¹⁸² the trial court found "good cause" to deny access to a child's psychological records where the child's

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therapist testified that disclosure of the child's records to the alleged sexually abusive father would adversely affect the child's recovery.

8.1602 Participation in School Activities. Virginia school law specifically allows a noncustodial parent of a student enrolled in a public school or day care center to be included as an emergency contact person and to participate in activities involving the child where the participation is supported or encouraged by the policies of the school or day care center. "Activities" include, but are not limited to, lunch breaks, special in-school programs, parent-teacher conferences and meetings, and extracurricular activities. A court may order otherwise, in which case the school or day care center will be relieved of its obligation to permit the noncustodial parent to participate in the activities of the child. ¹⁸³

When a parent encounters problems with the child's public school or day care center, counsel should consider contacting the school principal or day care center administrator informally in an effort to resolve the problem. ¹⁸⁴ If counsel anticipates that the custodial parent will attempt to obstruct the client's participation in the child's public school or day care center activities, counsel should consider asking the court to specifically authorize participation as part of its custody order. ¹⁸⁵

8.1603 Enforcement. When the court has personal jurisdiction over the parties, the primary method of enforcing a custody or visitation order is through a contempt of court proceeding. ¹⁸⁶ Contempt of court may be civil or criminal and can result in both fines and a jail sentence. Some courts sentence one who has been found in contempt of court to a term in jail but then suspend the sentence conditioned on compliance with the terms of the custody or visitation order. The moving party will need to prove that a valid order exists and that the party alleged to be in contempt of court has willfully violated the terms of the court order. The appendices to Chapter 11 of this book contain a variety of forms that illustrate how a contempt of court case can be brought.

For the noncustodial parent who is deprived of the enjoyment of visitation rights or other significant rights granted by the court order, another way to approach the problem is to seek a modification of the initial

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custody or visitation order. Some initial orders are drafted to allow for "liberal visitation" on the assumption that the parents will communicate with each other and cooperate in seeing to it that their child has an opportunity to spend time with both parents. If the relationship between the adults deteriorates and the noncustodial parent and child are not able to spend sufficient amounts of time together, counsel should consider asking the court to modify the order to provide a specific schedule of visitation. In rare cases, the court may consider modifying custody of the child. A violation on one or two occasions of the terms of a custody and visitation order should not...