Visitation Rights and Parenting Time in West Virginia and Ohio

When parents separate or divorce, maintaining a meaningful relationship between each parent and their children is one of the most important goals of the legal process. Visitation rights — also referred to as parenting time — define when and how the noncustodial parent spends time with their children. At Klie Law Offices, our family law attorneys help parents throughout West Virginia and Ohio establish, protect, and enforce their parenting time rights.

We handle visitation matters from our offices in Buckhannon, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Canton, Ohio.

How Visitation Is Determined

Visitation and parenting time are typically established as part of a custody determination, whether that occurs during a divorce, a paternity case, or a standalone custody proceeding. When one parent is awarded primary physical custody, the other parent is usually granted a parenting time schedule that ensures ongoing, regular contact with the children.

In both West Virginia and Ohio, the guiding principle for all visitation decisions is the best interests of the child. Courts recognize that children benefit from having strong relationships with both parents, and there is a general presumption in favor of granting meaningful parenting time to the noncustodial parent unless specific safety concerns exist.

Factors Courts Consider

When establishing a visitation schedule, courts evaluate factors including the age and developmental needs of the child, the distance between the parents' homes, each parent's work schedule and availability, the child's school schedule and extracurricular commitments, the quality of the child's relationship with each parent, the child's preference (if the child is mature enough to express a reasoned opinion), each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent, and any history of domestic violence, substance abuse, or other conduct that could affect the child's safety.

Supervised Visitation

In cases where there are concerns about a child's safety during unsupervised contact with a parent, the court may order supervised visitation. This means that the parent's time with the child must take place in the presence of an approved third party — either a professional supervisor at a designated visitation center or a trusted individual approved by the court. Supervised visitation may be ordered when there is a history of domestic violence or abuse, substance abuse concerns, mental health issues that could affect the child's safety, a parent who has been absent from the child's life for an extended period and needs to rebuild the relationship gradually, or allegations of neglect or endangerment.

Supervised visitation is intended as a protective measure, not a punishment. In many cases, it is a temporary arrangement that can be modified to unsupervised visitation once the parent has addressed the underlying concerns and demonstrated that the child will be safe in their care.

Virtual Visitation

As technology has become a more central part of daily life, many parenting plans now include provisions for virtual visitation — regular video calls, phone calls, or other electronic communication between the child and the noncustodial parent. Virtual visitation is particularly useful when the parents live far apart, but it can supplement any parenting time schedule. It does not replace in-person contact but can help maintain the parent-child bond between visits.

When the custodial parent wants to relocate — whether across the state or out of state — it can significantly disrupt the noncustodial parent's visitation schedule. Both West Virginia and Ohio require that the relocating parent provide notice and, in many cases, obtain court approval before moving with the child. The noncustodial parent has the right to object to the relocation, and the court will evaluate whether the move is in the child's best interests and how the visitation schedule should be adjusted if the move is permitted.

Relocation cases often involve a modification of both custody and visitation. Our attorneys handle these cases on behalf of both relocating parents and parents seeking to prevent a relocation that would harm their relationship with their child.

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Parental alienation — where one parent deliberately undermines the child's relationship with the other parent — can severely damage visitation rights. Alienating behavior may include making negative or false statements about the other parent to the child, interfering with phone calls or communication, creating scheduling conflicts to prevent visits, involving the child in adult disputes, and encouraging the child to reject the other parent. Courts take parental alienation seriously, and evidence of alienating behavior can result in significant consequences for the offending parent, including a change in custody.

Whether you need to establish a visitation schedule, enforce an existing order, or modify your parenting plan due to changed circumstances, contact Klie Law Offices to speak with an experienced family law attorney, or schedule an appointment online. We serve families from our offices in Buckhannon, Clarksburg, Morgantown, and Parkersburg in West Virginia, and Canton in Ohio.