CONCORD – A key legislative committee has approved an amended bill that would require judges in child custody cases to give both parties “approximately equal parenting time.”
The bill changes portions of existing divorce law that now include the words “frequent and sustained contact,” said Rep. Lorie Ball, R-Salem.
Exceptions exist in cases where abuse and/or neglect are alleged. The existing language would be interpreted differently by judges and viewed as vague, the bill’s supporters said, while others said the move was unnecessary and would only further confuse the volatile situation.
House Bill 185, introduced by Rep. Lisa Post, R-Lyndeborough, was amended by the House Children and Family Law Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 9-7
At a public hearing before the vote, several parents said they believed the change, while minor, would be seen as a positive improvement to current law.
That included Dana Albrecht, a father of four, who said, “I wish I could see them,” but in the seven years since his trial began, he said he has only seen his children a total of 30 to 40 days.
This year, a special committee was convened to look at judicial action in custody cases. Gayle Drobat of Amherst wrote to InDepthNH.org citing concerns parents testified about before the Child and Family Law Committee and the Special Committee to Inquire into the District Court – Family Division.
“Numerous parents have testified that adopting shared parenting would be a step in the right direction to better protect children and families in New Hampshire. “It will reduce the adversarial nature that family court creates by pitting parents against each other with one winner taking all, resulting in unequal orders that harm the children of New Hampshire,” Drobat wrote.
She said the New Hampshire Supreme Court recognized: “As to the private interest of parents, we have always recognized that the right to raise and care for one’s children is a fundamental liberty interest guaranteed by the State Constitution is protected.”
“Parental rights are natural, essential and inherent rights as defined in the state constitution,” and “the loss of one’s children may be considered a more severe punishment than a prison sentence.”
In family court proceedings, Drobat said, it is not uncommon for a parent to be relegated to being a visitor every other weekend of their children’s lives.
There is no consistent and equal protection for fundamental freedom interests that are set out in the federal and state constitutions, she said.
The full House of Representatives will be asked to vote on the bill when lawmakers return in the new year.
Ball, a member of the committee, told Chairman Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead: “What we found in our investigation by the Special Committee to Investigate Family Courts is that we have a very small number of judges who are not frequently and consistently interpret.” “Contact” should be 50/50 if possible, so parents and families who go to different courthouses are not treated the same because the law is interpreted differently.
“That’s why we want to formalize and ensure that all judges have equal rights and all families in the courthouses receive fair and equitable consideration,” Ball explained.
Rep. Candace Moulton, D-Manchester, said she’s been going back and forth on this bill all week and “it’s not a decision that should be taken lightly.” However, the current language is very vague and could be described as a telephone conversation rather than a personal interaction can be defined.
“There are parties out there that are using this as a weapon against the other person,” Moulton said.
“And because the language doesn’t specify anything further about how the judges should order it, then we run into a lot of problems here.”
Moulton said the purpose of the change was to “set boundaries” for both parties.
Rep. Alicia Gregg, D-Nashua, opposed the bill, which she said was based on the decisions of just three judges in the entire system.
“Divorce is never easy,” Gregg said.
“If we legislate something like this … I think it’s going to create a lot more problems for couples than it would solve,” Gregg said.
She said she feared people would stay in the house with the perpetrators instead of turning the children in for a full week every two weeks.
Ball said she hasn’t seen any data to support that theory and said there are some who feared they would get and stay less than 50 percent of the time.
“I believe that if parents were told to begin their divorce proceedings,
“Don’t bother trying to get sole custody in a situation where there is no abuse.” Don’t bother asking because the judge will be 50/50 supportive, there will be a lot of tension , a lot of anxiety, alleviating a lot of arguments and allowing the family to move on.”
InDepthNH.org is a nonprofit news website published by the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism.
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