Medical/Health Appointments - Clarification/Insight Needed

[Serene]

Well I hate to break it to you but sometimes the disgruntled parent who is "imposing rules" gets very creative in what happens with appointments.... mom in our case cancels appointments or reschedules without consult. Even though it's dad who initiated the appointment on his access time. This is even for routine dental cleanings etc. So he books time off work only to find out she has moved it.

And the imposing rule parent can keep kid at home or refuse kid to go to appointment. So consent required aside, there are many ways to be willfully destructive.

All the doctors get calls about what happened even if mom is given a full account of the appointment. Its maddening. And it's hard to keep up on all this sh@t and take the time to adjust calendars and time off when you have to work to keep your chin above water and pay your support on time.

So, in theory - yes a custodial parent can make an appointment. Easier said than done sometimes!

[Straittohell]

Very true Serene... Though in this case it sounds like notifying mom after the fact will work. Sad that it is necessary.

At least we have certainty on the original question.

[NeverGreen]

I went through this for a few years, I was “required” (by Mom, not the law) to be at every appointment, and usually got a good deal of verbal and emotional abuse at each one.

A judge told her that he completely understood my unwillingness to attend due to her behaviour, and explained that we DO NOT need to attend appointments together, and that contact info for the doctor/specialist was required in case I had any questions so I could call the doctor directly.

Judges can spot control issues a mile away, a person is totally in charge on their parenting time, and if they wish to take the child to the doctor without informing the other parent they do have that right. What’s important is to ensure the other parent is aware of any information that they need to be aware of.

If it’s going to be negative interaction, it’s best to shield the child from it, the judge ended up requiring her to handle all medical appointments and provide me with reports/phone numbers in case I had questions, citing that ‘nobody is required to be present for bad behaviou’