Handling Child Transportation During Visitation

Written by Anthony Piccirilli

When you’re creating a visitation schedule with your child’s other parent, you may not be thinking about how the two of you will transport your child to each other’s homes. While this seems like a minor detail, transportation during visitation can affect your relationship with your co-parent and disrupt the time you should be spending with your child. If you need help with the particulars of your agreement or have an ongoing child custody battle, you should seek legal representation from a Pittsburgh child custody lawyer.

Our team at Pittsburgh Divorce & Family Law, LLC has drafted thousands of customized custody and visitation agreements. Let us see what we can do for your situation. Call (412) 471-5100 to schedule a free, initial consultation.

How to Establish a Schedule for Child Transportation During Visitation

While state laws mention transportation as part of a parenting plan, there is no standard schedule provided. Counties may have rules about including specific transportation information in their local governments, but they are not necessarily all-inclusive. You can ask the court to grant a transportation order, or the two of you can work out a schedule together.

If you and your child’s other parent decide to work together on a transportation schedule, there are some essential aspects that should not be overlooked, such as:

• Location pick-up and drop-off. Generally, parents will schedule pick-up and drop-off to occur at their homes. One parent may drop the child off in the other parent’s driveway without having to go up to the house. If you and your child’s other parent have a particularly volatile relationship, you may want to consider moving pick-up and drop-off to a public location, such as a park or a restaurant.
• Time of pick-up and drop-off. Parents should agree upon a time for pick-up and drop-off, and afterward, both should strictly adhere to these times. It’s important to remember that you each deserve time with your child, so if you are late to drop your child off, you are taking that precious time away from your child’s other parent. Let your child’s other parent know right away if you’re going to be late. If your child’s other parent willfully is late, you may need to speak to your child custody lawyer about how to handle the situation.
• The driver who will be transporting the child. It seems evident that the parents will be the ones transporting their kids, but that may not always be the case. If your child’s other parent works late on the days they need to drop your child off, they may wish to have a family member or babysitter transport them instead. It’s important that you name anyone that may drive your child around, and ensure that these people all have driver’s licenses, reliable cars, and clean driving records. If a driver does not seem to be safe and reliable, you can ask that they are not included in the transportation schedule.
• Safety precautions. This may seem like common sense, but if you are already drafting a transportation schedule, it’s best not to leave anything out. You and your child’s other parent should both agree to drive safe vehicles that are equipped with booster seats or car seats, if necessary, and seatbelts. You both need to agree to follow the speed limit, adhere to all other traffic laws, and always drive sober.
• Out-of-town or out-of-state transportation. Special cases where a parent lives in another town or state would especially benefit from a detailed transportation schedule.

Speak to a Pittsburgh Child Custody Lawyer at Pittsburgh Divorce & Family Law, LLC

If you need to form or modify a schedule for transportation during visitation, call Pittsburgh Divorce & Family Law, LLC. Our team will help draft terms that work for both of you, so you don’t have to miss out on time you could be spending with your child. For a consultation, contact (412) 471-5100 right away.