I have a custody order in PA. I am concerned for my daughter and father who has MS. My daughter has to go with her father and is around people who may be exposed to a greater risk of being exposed to the virus. Her father works at a large company who has not closed. His girlfriend works at a place that is under a emergency. Also there are other children being passed back and forth in the household. If my daughter comes in contact with anyone and could get the virus, she could bring it back to my home. This week I have her Monday to Wednesday then Friday to Sunday and will return again on the following monday. The father will not allow her to stay here for the safety of her or my family and will turn me on for breaking the order of I chose to keep her until the schools open again in PA. Am I allowed to make this decision and keep my daughter out of concern and break the order or will I be punished for trying to keep my family safe?
Unless you have an order with a judge's signature on it saying that your current custody order is vacated or suspended, YOUR ORDER IS STILL VALID AND ENFORCEABLE AND YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY VIOLATIONS OF IT. Although there are valid and even compelling reasons for not following the order, the safest course of action is almost always going to be to follow the order because you never know what a judge or hearing officer will see as "willful violation" or what the consequences will be. If you haven't done so yet, I recommend that you and the father speak to your daughter's pediatrician. They will be able to advise of risk and can make recommendations; it will be substantially easier to make adjustments if it's based upon medical advice. It sounds like you may have a 5/2/2/5 arrangement and it's worth considering (together) whether there are ways to keep the same amount of time but reducing the amount of exposure. Potentially this could be with a week on/week off arrangement. If you do not believe you have an amicable enough relationship with her father to talk about this or you're not coming to an agreement, you MUST contact a local attorney. My colleagues and I can give general guidance in this forum but we cannot address every specific situation. Consulting with an attorney will also give you information about what options may be available to you in light of the court closures. I wish you all the best and much good health.