The juvenile court abused discretion by delegating visitation determination to the custodial parent. Father appealed an exit order made when the juvenile court terminated jurisdiction and placed the minors in their mother’s custody. The disputed exit order allowed supervised visitation for father “to be determined by the parents.” On appeal, father contended that the order improperly designated to mother the discretion to allow visitation. The appellate court agreed and reversed the order. A visitation order may delegate to a third party the responsibility for managing the details of visits such as time and place, but the ultimate supervision and control over discretion must remain with the court. Here, conceivably mother could have not “agreed” to visitation but once a year. The court abused its discretion by giving mother an effective veto power over father’s right to visit.
Case Summaries