A Board Certified Family Law
Specialist Pursuing Positive
Outcomes to Domestic Disputes
Specialist Pursuing Positive
Outcomes to Domestic Disputes
Where Does Visitation Take Place?
In the tragic case Hoover v. Hoover, 2011 CU 1917, the First Circuit was asked whether the Trial Court in Livingston Parish had ruled correctly when it held that a father, rendered a quadriplegic with mental handicaps and limited ability to communicate due to a brain aneurism, would be required to visit his minor son at the home of his sister, Lori. His parents, who were his caretakers, argued that their grandson should visit his father at their home. The First Circuit affirmed the Trial Court. What appeared to matter most to the Trial Court and the Court of Appeal was the need for the child to visit his father in surroundings that were both familiar and free of the hatred expressed by the grandparents for their former daughter in law. Lori and the child’s mother had remained friends after the couple’s divorce while the grandparents were hostile. The Courts both also relied heavily on the opinions of the psychologist treating the child for Aspberger’s syndrome and the court-appointed child custody expert.