Visitation Orders, Family Courts, and Fragile Families

Abstract

Despite proposals to make parenting time a part of all new child support orders, limited research has examined why some unmarried are more likely than others to establish legal visitation agreements. This mixed-methods study draws on qualitative data collected from unmarried mothers and fathers living in New York (N = 70) to develop hypotheses about the contexts in which parents set up visitation orders, which are then tested in a large sample of unmarried parents living apart (N = 1,392). Both qualitative and quantitative findings show that disengagement, cooperation, and conflict in the coparenting relationship postseparation influence unmarried parents' decisions about whether to establish a legal visitation agreement. The qualitative data further illustrate how parents' distrust of the court system, preference for informal agreements, and uncertainty about the custody of nonmarital children inform their decisions. The article concludes by considering approaches for helping low-conflict coparents set up visitation agreements outside of family court.About two in five children in the United States are born to unmarried parents, and the majority of these parents are living apart within 5 years of

“Harder Being Without the Baby”: Fathers' Coparenting Perspectives in Responsible Fatherhood Programming

“…Coupled or not, how well parents get along influences how active fathers are in children's lives (Carlson, Pilkauskas, McLanahan, & Brooks‐Gunn, ; Fagan & Palkovitz, ). Fathers are more likely to provide formal and informal child support when they have cooperative coparenting relationships with mothers (Goldberg, ; Turner & Waller, ), and the association is stronger for informal support, which both mothers and fathers prefer (Edin & Nelson, ; Waller & Emory, ). As coparenting relationships deteriorate post breakup, paternal informal support tends to decrease, which often prompts mothers to file court orders, leading to the further decline in relationship quality (Goldberg, ).…”

The Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model: The Shaping Role of Predivorce and Postdivorce Interparental Conflict

“…One plausible explanation for this mediating effect might be that postdivorce interparental conflict often involves highly contentious issues (e.g., where the child would live, the amount of the child support order, visitation problems) that parents could neither ignore nor resolve on their own. The potential benefits of seeking assistance from third-party professionals may foster protective actions regarding the child and help to successfully navigate and contain the stress associate with both divorce and interparental conflict (Waller & Emory, 2018 ). Specifically, working with an attorney during the divorce process, the attorney may help absorb some of the harmful effects of interparental conflict on child development, especially as the interparental conflict escalates during the legal process.…”

“…In the context of poorer-quality coparenting relationships, it was conflict that mattered for fathering, not just parents’ inability to cooperate. Drawing on data from unmarried parents living apart, findings of a mixed-method study by Waller and Emory ( 2018 ) indicated that post-separation conflict in the coparenting relationship influenced unmarried parents’ decisions about whether to establish a legal visitation agreement. Using data from the FFCW study, Waller and Emory ( 2014 ) examined the circumstances of unmarried parents living apart 5 years after having a child together as compared to those of previously married parents.…”