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When could a custody dispute lead to felony charges?

On Behalf of | Aug 31, 2021 | Firm News

Child custody orders are no different from any other order a court issues. As such, you need to ensure you follow all orders in your custody case to avoid future problems.

There are some specific things you might do that could result in a criminal felony charge, according to the Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Your actions must be intentional and will violate a standing order.

Keeping your child out of school

Whether you do it intentionally or you assist your child with skipping school, you could end up in trouble. It is illegal to assist a child with truancy.

Hiding your child

Hiding your child in any manner or otherwise keeping your child from the other parent when the custody order says the child should be in the care of the other parent is illegal. You cannot ignore the details of the order. You cannot act in a way that will deprive the other parent of seeing the child or being with him or her during the time awarded by the court order.

This includes not returning your child on time according to the visitation agreement or not delivering your child to the other parent on time.

Taking out of state

You can take your child out of state, but things cross the line when you do so to intentionally prevent the child from going with the other parent. If you keep the child out of the state to complicate custody matters or to make it harder for the other parent to exercise his or her rights, this is illegal.

Assisting your child to runaway

If you help your child run away from the other parent when he or she has custody, this is a criminal act.

There are many families where the parents do not get along or have issues between them. The bottom line is you cannot use your child as a weapon against the other parent as it could end up with you in criminal trouble.