Opinion
File No.: CN10-02600 Petition No.: 19-25013
03-30-2020
Re: J E. C v. R E. Y
LETTER DECISION AND ORDER
Petition Type: Visitation Dear Parties:
This is the Court's decision on the Petition for Visitation filed by J E. C ("Mother") against R E. Y ("Father") in the interest of N C (d.o.b. 12/14/2009). The Court heard testimony from Mother and Father. Mother and Father were both self-represented.
Procedural History
On July 17, 2018, the Court entered an Order granting Mother limited supervised contact. The main concern at that time was Mother's lack of a relationship with N. Based on the concerns presented, the Court granted Mother supervised visitation every other Sunday for two hours. Father agreed to supervise the visits. Mother filed the above referenced Petition on August 30, 2019. In her Petition, Mother requested that her visitation be expanded to unsupervised contact every other weekend, Friday through Sunday.
Legal Standard
Visitation is granted based on the best interests of the child and a party is entitled to frequent and meaningful contact, unless the Court finds that such contact with one parent would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair his or her emotional development. Therefore, in coming to a determination regarding visitation, the Court must consider the best interests of N as set forth in 13 Del. C. § 722. The statutory factors are discussed below. In the interest of judicial economy, the Court will not recite all the testimony from the hearing that can be more fully obtained from the record.
Pursuant to Del. CODE ANN. tit. 13, § 728(a): The Court shall determine, whether the parents have joint legal custody of the child or 1 of them has sole legal custody of the child, with which parent the child shall primarily reside and a schedule of visitation with the other parent, consistent with the child's best interests and maturity, which is designed to permit and encourage the child to have frequent and meaningful contact with both parents unless the Court finds, after a hearing, that contact of the child with 1 parent would endanger the child's physical health or significantly impair his or her emotional development. The Court shall specifically state in any order denying or restricting a parent's access to a child the facts and conclusions in support of such a denial or restriction.
Pursuant to Del. CODE ANN. tit. 13, § 722:
a) The Court shall determine the legal custody and residential arrangements for a child in accordance with the best interests of the child. In determining the best interests of the child, the Court shall consider all relevant factors including:
(1) The wishes of the child's parent or parents as to his or her custody and residential arrangements;
(2) The wishes of the child as to his or her custodian or custodians and residential arrangements;
(3) The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents, grandparents, siblings, persons cohabiting in the relationship of husband and wife with a parent of the child, any other residents of the household or persons who may significantly affect the child's best interests;
(4) The child's adjustment to his or her home, school and community;
(5) The mental and physical health of all individuals involved;
(6) Past and present compliance by both parents with their rights and responsibilities to their child under § 701 of this title;
(7) Evidence of domestic violence as provided for in Chapter 7A of this title; and
(8) The criminal history of any party or any other resident of the household including whether the criminal history contains pleas of guilty or no contest or a conviction of a criminal offense
Testimony
Mother testified that she is requesting visitation every other weekend, as two hours every other weekend does not feel sufficient for further bonding with N. Mother explained that several of N's siblings live in her home, and that N has been unable to meet these siblings. Mother stated that her adult son, J B, needs assistance to function in her home due to his OEIS diagnosis. Therefore, Mother does not like to take J far away from home as he has a colostomy bag that needs relatively consistent cleaning. Mother added that she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December of 2019. Mother stated that she would like the ability to work towards overnight visitation with N and give N time to bond with her siblings. Mother admitted that visitation has been inconsistent occasionally for many reasons, but Mother hopes that overnight visitation would eliminate some of the conflicts. Mother also stated that her paramour, D G, lives in the home. Mother has said that N has not met her paramour as he works a lot. Mother added that she is unaware of her paramour or J having any criminal history in Delaware or Pennsylvania.
Mother stated that she is in good health and that to her knowledge, N is also in good health. Mother added that her fifteen year old daughter and her paramour's ten year old daughter also live in her home. Mother wanted the Court to know that her other adult son, X C, does not live with her and he is not involved in her life. Mother was adamant that he was no longer a concern. Mother said that she is up to date with child support payments and that her visits with N have been going well when they occur. Mother said that she works in a nursing home with weekend hours. However, Mother stated that she will not work on the weekends when N is in her care as Mother only needs to work every other weekend. Mother wanted to calm Father's concerns and show that she will always be present with N during visits.
Father requested that if the Court grants Mother more contact and makes it unsupervised, that the process be gradual. Father stated that he was a little concerned moving from two hours every other week to several overnights in a row. Father thought a gradual change would be much better for N. Father also stated that he was concerned that he did not know Mother's household members. Father stated that he wants N to have a relationship with her siblings, but still felt uneasy about Mother's paramour as Father does not know him. Father added that he is a little concerned that Mother moved to Pennsylvania, but Father could not articulate his concern about Mother's move. Father said that N participates in girl scouting every other Saturday and would like her to continue with that activity.
Analysis of Best Interest Factors
The best interest factors in this case weigh in favor of granting Mother expanded visitation. The Court initially granted Mother two hours of visitation every other week in July of 2018. The Court's main concern was Mother's lack of previous contact with N. If Mother followed through on visits, the Court expected for visitation to increase and move away from supervised visitation. The Court only ordered limited visitation in 2018 to ensure that N felt safe and gained a positive relationship with Mother. Based on Mother and Father's testimony, N has enjoyed the visits and there have been no concerns for about two years. The parties acknowledge that visitation has not always been consistent, but the visits that have occurred have been positive. The Court also considers that Mother has an adult child with a physical disability that needs care and prevents Mother from being away from home for long periods of time. Additionally, Mother and Father indicated that N wants to get to know her siblings. The only way for N to get to know Mother's household members is to have long enough visits for N to go to Mother's home unsupervised. The Court also checked J's and Mother's paramour's criminal history and no concerning records were found. As no one in Mother's home has concerning criminal history and Mother's previous visitation was very limited, the Court finds it appropriate to expand Mother's visitation in a gradual manner.
The Court also notes that there can be confusion regarding what is allowed during the coronavirus emergency as travel is limited to essential travel. The term "Essential Travel" includes "Travel required or authorized by a law enforcement officer or court order." The visitation order is a court order and travel is permitted to take place to carry out the Order. Based on the above , the Court finds it appropriate to issue the following Order:
1) Mother's visitation shall expand to every other Sunday from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. without supervision. The parties agreed that Mother's expanded visitation would begin on Sunday, March 22, 2020.
2) Beginning July 12, 2020, Mother's visitation shall expand to include an overnight. Mother's visitation shall begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and end on Sunday at 6 p.m.
3) All exchanges shall occur at Father's home. Mother shall be responsible for all transportation.
IT IS SO ORDERED
Very truly yours,
Felice Glennon Kerr, Judge FGK/jw Date mailed:
Date emailed: