St. Petersburg Visitation Lawyer

Helping Parents through Family Dependency Visitation Matters

Depending on your situation, a Department of Children and Family (DCF) investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect may have resulted in your child being removed from your care. Such action can affect the mental well-being of you and your child, as well as your ability to maintain a strong relationship with each other. Having your child taken from your home by DCF does not mean that you are completely cut off from seeing them. You have a right to have regular and meaningful contact with them through court-ordered visitation unless the court determines that such is not in your child's best interests.

If your child has been removed from your care, reach out to Fleming Law Group to discuss your case. Our St. Petersburg visitation attorney understands the emotional and sensitive nature of these matters. We appreciate the importance of having frequent contact with your child, especially when you are both going through the pain of separation. That is why we will ensure that you understand your visitation rights and help develop an individualized visitation plan for your family. When you choose us, you will have a compassionate advocate on your side fighting to protect your best interests.

Schedule a free consultation with our visitation lawyer in St. Petersburg by calling (727) 202-4858 or submitting an online contact form today.

Considerations in Determining Visitation

In a family dependency matter, whether or not visitation is granted is at the court's discretion. First and foremost, any order of visitation is guided by what is in the child's best interests. If the judge feels that parent-child contact would be harmful or place the child's health and safety at risk, they may deny visitation.

If there is no risk of danger by allowing visitation, the court should grant it. Absent any threat to the child, the court should not deny visitation as a way to enforce compliance with the conditions of a case plan.

At Fleming Law Group, our St. Petersburg visitation attorney will guide you through this difficult time. We will be by your side, explaining the process and working toward ensuring that your visitation order allows quality time to foster growth and parent-child connection.

The Conditions of Visitation

Visitation orders should be individualized for the family's needs and not based on what worked in the past for others. As such, the conditions ordered for one family may differ from those ordered for another.

That said, visitation orders may contain the following provisions:

• Specified dates and times when visitation can occur
• A list of who can visit and have contact with the child
• The type/method of acceptable communication between parent and child
• The situations that would permit the supervisor to refuse or end a visit

Supervised or Unsupervised Visits

Depending on the case, visitation may be supervised or unsupervised. Most likely, a third party will monitor initial contact between the parent and child.

Generally, a court will order supervised visits when it has reason to believe that:

• The child's safety may be at risk
• The parent's or child's well-being may be negatively affected by the visits.

If the court sees that the parent is following orders and making progress in their case plan, it may allow for unsupervised visits.

Suspending or Terminating Visitation

As with most decisions in a family dependency case, determining whether or not visitation should continue depends on what is in the best interests of the child. If the court is concerned that visitation places the child's safety at risk, it may suspend or terminate family time. Before taking such action, the court may consider how this could affect the child's emotional well-being.

Delivering Skilled Guidance in Visitation Cases

Our St. Petersburg visitation lawyer understands that one of the primary concerns of parents involved in child dependency matters is maintaining contact with their child. We work hard to ensure that, despite separation, the parent-child relationship can continue through regular interactions. Our team is ready to help you and your family.

Discuss your case with our visitation attorney in St. Petersburg by contacting us at (727) 202-4858.