Custody

“Supervised parent-time” means that the noncustodial parent can spend time with the child, but s/he must be accompanied by someone the judge has approved to be there.¹

If you’re worried about the abuser being alone with your child, you might be thinking about asking the judge to order supervised parent-time. If you are already in court because the abuser filed a case, you may not have much to lose by asking for supervised parent-time as long as you can give the judge a good reason for it, but this may depend on your situation.

However, if there isn’t a case yet, it’s a good idea to get legal advice first before starting a case to ask for supervised parent-time. Talking to a custody lawyer can help you understand what you need to prove for the abuser to get supervised parent-time and how long it might last, based on the facts of your case.

Usually, supervised parent-time is only temporary, but this may be different on where you live and who your judge is. The judge might order a professional, a relative, or someone else the people know to watch a certain number of visits. If there are no obvious problems, the parent-time might become unsupervised. At the end of a case, the other parent might end up with more frequent and longer visits than s/he had before you went to court or even some form of custody.

If your child is in immediate danger from the abuser, you may need to start a case to ask for custody and supervised parent-time to protect your child. To find out what is best for you to do, you can look for legal advice using our Utah Finding a Lawyer page.

¹ UT ST § 81-9-101(12)