While visitation necessarily turns upon the custodial parent's ability to make the child available for visitation, a custodial parent probably has sufficient control over a child of "tender years" to compel the child to visit with the other parent under the terms of the court order; and the custodial parent's failure to comply would thus be punishable by contempt.
Teenagers are a different breed. Although teenage children remain subject to their parents' control until age 18 or marriage, if a teenager refuses to visit with the noncustodial parent through no fault of the custodial parent, the noncustodial parent probably has no remedy. The California Court of Appeal held in 1987 that a mother of a 14-year old child could not be held in contempt because there was no showing that the mother had the ability to compel the child to visit.
Lesson learned. The noncustodial parent needs to make quality time with the teenager so that the teenager will want to visit with him/her. Sitting on the couch watching television and making out with a lover is not quality time with the teenager. Or having the teenager "hang out" with you and your friends and/or lover may not be enjoyable for the teenager. A child is visiting with YOU not your friends and needs your undivided attention during this visitation period no matter what age if you want to develop a parent-child bond and continuing relationship. Just because the noncustodial parent's child support will be reduced based upon the visitation time is no reason to force the teenager to visit; the teenager knows that reason. It is the noncustodial parent's duty to make the teenager want to visit and the custodial parent's duty to encourage the visitation. A family law attorney in Los Angeles can provide you the appropriate advice in when and how to go to Court effectively to modify child visitation and/ or child support.
