A missed exchange can unsettle a child’s routine and leave a parent wondering when they will see their child again. If exchanges keep falling through, that worry may return before every scheduled visit.
If you share custody with your former spouse, knowing how courts respond can help you decide what to document. In Delaware, a custody order sets the child’s contact schedule unless both parents change it in writing. If your former spouse keeps the child past an exchange or blocks a visit, you can ask Family Court to enforce the order.
At the hearing, the custody terms and evidence may help establish whether a parent interfered with your custodial rights or scheduled parenting time. If the court determines that a violation occurred, here are the possible outcomes and what they could mean for your time with your child.
The court could award you makeup time
A judge can award compensatory parenting time when a parent wrongfully denies contact. A missed weekend, for example, could lead to another period together.
Your former spouse may owe costs or fines
After finding interference, the court orders the violating parent to pay the requesting parent’s costs and reasonable attorney fees. It may also impose a fine. A separate surcharge can apply when a parent with visitation rights fails to follow the schedule without just cause or sufficient notice. That failure often involves more than a minor change in exchange time.
The court can transfer custody temporarily
For up to 30 days, the parent seeking relief may receive custody, the child’s primary residence or both. A permanent change to the custody arrangement requires a separate review under the rules for modifying the existing order. Those rules may depend in part on the prior order and, for some orders, when a parent files the request.
Contempt may lead to jail time
If the court finds a parent in contempt of an earlier order, it can impose a jail sentence. The judge may consider the circumstances before imposing that penalty.
Why you should address a custody violation
Addressing a violation could restore lost time with your child and create a record if the problem continues. Keep track of missed exchanges, messages and your efforts to resolve the issue.
You may include them in an enforcement request so the court can compare what happened with its order. A local attorney can help you prepare the filing and explain the possible results, easing the strain of a custody dispute during or after divorce.