Few things are as important to the bond between a parent and a child as simply spending time together. When your child doesn’t live with you all the time, making the most of the time you do have is even more essential.

Attorney Andreas Vasilatos helps parents, grandparents, and others with visitation and parenting time issues, ensuring that the children in their lives benefit from regular contact with the adults they love.

Visitation and Parenting Time in New York

The terms “parenting time” and “visitation” are often used interchangeably. Many people prefer the term “parenting time” because it reflects the idea that a parent should not be a mere visitor in their child’s life. Parenting time may be an issue in divorce, separation, custody, or parentage cases.

As with child custody, parties who need a parenting time schedule can try to reach agreement on this issue. This is often ideal; parents and caretakers usually have a better understanding of their childrens’ unique needs than a judge does. When parties cannot reach agreement on a schedule, a court must make the decision based on what it determines to be in the children’s best interest.

Parents with joint physical custody of their children may have an equal or nearly equal amount of time with the children. In other cases, one parent is the primary custodian and the other parent has regularly scheduled time with the children. A common schedule is for a non-custodial parent to have the children every other weekend and one weeknight every week. Less commonly, when there are documented concerns about a child’s safety with a parent, a court may order supervised parenting time to ensure the child’s protection while still allowing them regular contact with a parent.

Depending on the ages of the children in a case, a parenting time schedule may be in place for well over a decade. It is possible to modify a parenting time order if a substantial change of circumstances makes a modification appropriate. However, courts will not modify an existing visitation order without a strong reason to do so; therefore, it is important to make sure the parenting time order in your case is sufficient to keep your relationship with your child strong. An experienced family law attorney can help.

The attorneys of Andreas Vasilatos, PLLC are skilled negotiators with extensive experience helping parents reach agreement on parenting time schedules that work for them and their children. But unlike many family law attorneys, they are also skilled litigators, capable of advocating effectively in the courtroom to achieve a favorable outcome. When your time with your child is at stake, it’s important to work with someone who understands how important parenting time is and will work to maximize yours.

Work with a Skilled New York Visitation Attorney

The Law Offices of Andreas Vasilatos, PLLC has two convenient locations: in Bayside, Queen, and at 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan. The firm serves clients in all five boroughs of New York City as well as Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties. We invite you to learn more about our firm and our team, and to contact us to schedule a consultation. We look forward to working with you.