When a couple does not understand each other and decide to go their separate ways, divorce allows them to resume their lives separately, but one aspect of titanic importance is the children in this process (if they have them), since with them the ties are not cut, but prevail.
The regulation and regulation of visitation is a system by means of which it is attempted to maintain a balance between separated parents to exercise over their children the rights derived from parental authority and paternal authority. In principle, visits can be agreed upon by the couple according to the specific circumstances of the case, with the approval of the corresponding official or, failing that, fixed by the judge, after a detailed study of the convenience, both for the child and for each of the parents.
The existence of this figure does not stem from a protection of the rights of the parents as such, but for one of greater importance, being the prevalence of the right of children to have a family, a right protected by the constitution of 1991 in its article 44, which recognizes as fundamental rights of children, the right to have a family, not to be separated from it and, above all, to the care and love that should be given to them. At the same time, it imposes the duty to watch over and respect these rights on the family, in the first place, and, subsidiarily, on society and the State, with both the parents and the minors themselves being empowered to demand this important right.
Visitation can be established in two ways in Colombia:
Through mutual agreement
When a married couple decides to separate, they may carry out a conciliation between them to determine the visitation regime, the alimony, the custody and the integral care of the minor children, all this through a process of self-composition. For this process they must be accompanied by a family lawyer, otherwise, they will incur in a nullity in the divorce process.
Through a judicial process
In the event that the couple does not reach fair and organized agreements on visitation, the power to determine visitation is vested in a family judge through a judicial process.
Now, it is important to remember that in Colombia there are two forms of regulation for the visitation regime, the normalized, which is when one of the parents does not have custody of the child and may visit the child on alternate weekends and half vacations, including sleepovers and a weekday afternoon. Secondly, the NON-standardized visitation regime: This regime takes into account the distance between the residence of the parents, the distance of their jobs, if there is any illness on the part of the father or mother and the young age of the child. But it is important to remember that regardless of this, the non-custodial parent must continue to pay child support even during the time he/she remains with the child.
Visits, according to the Constitutional Court, “should not be carried out in the domicile of the other, because this would mean subjecting the person exercising the right of visitation to inadmissible violence and remove from the relationship the degree of spontaneity necessary for the visitor to effectively cultivate the affection of their children” so it can be done anywhere you want and not necessarily in the home of the parent with whom the child lives.
Can visitation be lost?
Only for serious reasons that make contact with minors likely to endanger their safety, physical or even moral health, may parents be deprived of this right. Thus, it has been decided that not even the loss of parental authority is sufficient to exclude the right of access, when it is due to the abandonment of the minor; much less the mere fault in the divorce or the simple refusal of the minor child. if the minor is the one who does not comply with the visitation regime of his own free will and being close to the age of majority, his decision should be respected and the visitation regime should be adapted to one that is more adapted to the wishes and needs of the minor in question.
Family Lawyers
In family cases it is better to have the legal advice of the best Family Lawyers. At Servicio Legal, we have an expert in Family Law, ready to fight for the interests of you and your children.
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