The supervisor had both of us sign an agreement for supervised visits. These visits weren’t ordered by a judge but were something we both agreed on. The visits were supposed to be at a neutral location with just the parent and child. But the other parent brought family members, and the supervisor allowed them to stay without telling me or my lawyer.
Does this count as breaking the agreement even though it wasn’t a court order?
Also, could I get in trouble for ending the visit early? I left because, in the middle of the visit, the supervisor texted me saying she never got my signed contract, even though she had confirmed receiving it before.
If there’s no court order, they can’t really be punished for breaking the agreement.
But if a judge had ordered the visits, then you could be in trouble for ending it early. Honestly, even without a court order, blocking visits could still look bad for you if this ends up in front of a judge.
@Amory
Let’s be real—you just don’t like the other parent’s family. Most people wouldn’t care about grandparents seeing their grandkids. Meanwhile, you get to have your family around whenever you want.
Not a lawyer, but since these visits weren’t ordered by a judge, you won’t get in legal trouble. But if you make it difficult for the supervisor, it might not reflect well on you later.
Also, if there’s an active CPS case, they should be in charge of the visits. You mentioned threats against your child—if that’s true, that needs to be reported ASAP. If the other parent is making threats toward you too, that also needs to be documented.
If they’re behaving erratically, forcing visits might not be in the child’s best interest anyway.
Felicity said:
Who told you they never got your contract? And why are you so against the other parent’s family being there?
The supervisor said she never got it, but she had already confirmed she did before. And I’m against it because the agreement we signed clearly said no extra visitors unless there was a court order or a new agreement.
Clare said: @Amory
Yeah, but why are you so firm on not letting the other parent’s family be involved?
It’s not that I have a problem with them seeing the child. But the visits are supervised for a reason, and we both signed an agreement saying no extra visitors. If agreements don’t matter, then what’s the point of having one?
@Amory
You’re getting defensive, but the reasoning matters.
If there’s a serious reason why only the parent and child should be there, a judge might agree with you. But if it’s just ‘because the agreement says so,’ a judge won’t be happy.
Ending the visit early might not look good either unless you had a solid reason. Did you try to fix the contract issue on the spot? Or did you only decide to leave because of the extra family members?
Judges want parents to focus on the child’s well-being, not just rules and agreements.
@Adriana
I ended the visit because the supervisor suddenly claimed she never got my signed agreement—even though she had confirmed before that she did. If she couldn’t even be honest about that, how could I trust her to handle the visit properly?
Also, the other parent has a domestic violence conviction and an open CPS case. The reason for supervised visits is because of death threats against my child. If the supervisor is already breaking the agreement, why should I trust her?
Bonnie said: @Amory
Sounds like the real issue is between you and the visit supervisor.
What does your court paperwork say about visits?
There’s no court order yet. We just signed this agreement as a temporary plan until we go to court. But the other parent also signed it, so they broke the agreement too.
@Amory
Have you talked to the supervisor to fix the issue so visits can continue?
You can probably explain why you ended the visit this time, and a judge might understand. But if you use this as a reason to stop visits going forward, that won’t look good for you.
@Bonnie
Yeah, I hear you. I did get frustrated and told the supervisor that she didn’t do her job properly. She kept making excuses, was late, and overall, it was handled poorly. I’ll have my lawyer deal with it and see if we can move forward. My first instinct was to stop visits completely, but I came here to get other opinions before making that call. So, thanks!
Adriana said: @Amory
Yeah, a judge probably won’t be happy with how you handled it.
So basically, agreements don’t mean anything?
In contract law, there’s a difference between a major and minor breach. A major breach means the agreement is seriously broken, so you don’t have to follow it anymore. A minor breach means the other side messed up, but you still have to follow your part.
A judge will probably see this as a minor breach unless you can prove the extra visitors were a serious problem.
