Supervised Access or Conditional Access
This page does not contain any legal advice from Golden West Investigative Group Ltd.
The information contained herein has been posted on our site as an except from JP Boyd’s BC Family Law Resource with the express permission being obtained from the author, JP Boyd, Barrister and Solicitor.
We have posted this information so that you may better understand the concepts of Access and how our investigators can be utilized for the Supervised Access of the children when it is required.
The Role of our investigators in a Supervised Access scenario usually starts with the exchange of the children from one parent to the other for “Parenting Time”. This exchange is sometimes called the “hand over”.
Notes are taken discreetly of all interactions or other happenings that occur during the “Parenting Time.”
Our investigators maintain an impartial role while supervising the access of the children and will not interfere with the same unless it is strongly felt that the best interest or well being of the children is in jeopardy.
From Mr. Boyd’s Resource Web Site:
Access
This term describes the time that each parent has with the child. Usually, access means the time that the parent who has the child for the least amount of time has with the child. Access is a basic parental right, and a parent is presumed to have the right to spend a regular, scheduled amount of time with his or her child. Access will only be withheld when a parent poses a hazard to the child.
The amount of access a parent has depends entirely on the particular circumstances of the family, and a parent’s access rights can be described on vague terms or with extreme detail. Vague terms usually say something to the effect of “so-and-so shall have liberal and generous access to the child.” Detailed terms can include provision for specific drop-off and pick-up times, the sharing of driving, halves of birthdays, alternating holidays, extra time when there is a holiday Monday, Fathers’ Day and Mothers’ Day, the sharing of religious holidays and so forth. How detailed the terms of access need to be depend entirely on the circumstances of the parents, the level of commitment each parent has to be on time for access visits, and how flexible the parents are prepared to be with one another.
It is very important to understand that a parent’s access rights to a child are entirely different from that parent’s obligation to pay child support. Child support is not a fee paid to see one’s child, nor is it it a fee charged in exchange for access.
It is never appropriate to withhold access because the parent missed a child support payment, nor is it ever appropriate to stop paying child support because access has been withheld. The courts will not look kindly on parents who have engaged in this sort of conduct.
Supervised Access
Supervised access is a kind of access in which a parent’s time with a child is monitored or supervised by another adult, often a friend, a family member or, in rare cases, a professional access supervisor. Supervised access can be extremely difficult for a parent, and is reserved for situations where there are grave concerns about a parent’s fitness to see his or her children. There must, in general, be some legitimate hazard to the child for a parent’s time with his or her child to be supervised.
A history of mental instability, physical abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse, or past attempts to abduct the children or alienate the child from the other parent are among the factors which suggest that access should only be allowed on the condition that it is supervised.
What can Golden West Investigative Group Ltd do for you in your access situation?
As of January 31, 2019, all files for this area of investigation will be looked after by one of our associates. GWIG LTD will no longer be handing any Investigative or Surveillance files internally.
Call us to discuss your needs- [604]-318-8545 keeping in mind, Supervised Access is about the Children.. not just the Parent.