I agree with my colleague, try not to mix up legal decision-making and parenting time here as the law lays them out as two wholly separate and distinct issues, and the last thing you want is an order by a judge saying you acted without good cause. It may behoove you to reach out to an experienced family law attorney on the topic for a free 30 minute consultation.

"Sole legal decision-making" means one parent has the legal right and responsibility to make major decisions for a child. However, our statute specifically states that an order for sole legal decision-making does not allow that parent to unilaterally alter a court-ordered parenting time plan.

Although COVID-19 has placed us all in a new reality, children’s safety issues have been addressed by our legislature and our Family Court long before I started practicing family law 27 years ago.

If you believe your child may be harmed while in Father’s care, then it is my advice that you need to seek emergency orders. If you do not, and instead simply keep the child in violation of existing Court orders, there can be significant repercussions.

Pursuant to Arizona criminal law, a person commits “custodial interference” if, knowing or having reason to know that the person has no legal right to do so, the person withholds the child from the other parent or intentionally fails to the child to the other parent. Custodial interference can result in felony or misdemeanor charges.

Pursuant to one of our Family law statutes, if our Court finds that a parent has refused without good cause** to comply with a parenting time order, the court MUST do at least one of the following:
1. Find the violating parent in contempt of court.
2. Order visitation or parenting time to make up for the missed sessions.
3. Order parent education at the violating parent's expense.
4. Order family counseling at the violating parent's expense.
5. Order civil penalties of not to exceed one hundred dollars for each violation.
6. Order both parents to participate in mediation or some other appropriate form of alternative dispute resolution at the violating parent's expense.
7. Make any other order that may promote the best interests of the child or children involved.

** "Without Good Cause" is surely going to be an important topic in all COVID-19 parenting time disputes. I will only state that none of us know yet how the Court's will address it.

One defense to prosecution for custodial interference is to file an emergency petition regarding custodial rights with the superior court and obtain a hearing date under the “good faith and reasonable belief that the child will be in immediate danger if the child is left with the other parent”.

Please know that I am not trying to convince you to not keep your child from what I agree is extremely dangerous conduct. Instead, I am encouraging you, if you believe your child is in danger due to Father’s lack of adherence to the social distancing mandate which the majority of us are adhering to, to file for emergency orders right away. Until we learn more from our Family Court on this issue, it is risky to just keep the child.

A qualified and experienced family law attorney can of course assist you in considering your options and then getting where you need to be. Most of us offer free, ½ hour consultations, in which your matter can be discussed in detail. That would be a great opportunity to discuss the specifics of your matter and develop a plan. I would encourage you to quickly schedule this free consultation.

Your concern is certainly understandable but if he has parenting time, he’s entitled to that time until the order is modified. Having sole legal decision-making doesn’t affect his parenting time rights even when framed as a medical precaution.

If you deny his parenting time, he can report you to the police for custodial interference. Law enforcement ordinarily won’t enforce custody orders absent exigent circumstances. The father would need to file an enforcement petition in family court where he could seek makeup parenting time and financial sanctions against you.

Ultimately, you must do what you believe to be in your child’s best interests. Just be prepared to defend your choice against the potential consequences.