11. If the non-custodial parent is stopped by the other from visiting his/her children without reasonable grounds, what can he/she do?
When the non-custodial parent is unreasonably prevented from visiting their child, he or she can try to remind the other parent that non-compliance with court orders or breaching an undertaking that was made to the court can amount to a contempt of court. If there is no improvement and the non-custodial parent continues to be denied access to the children, then the non-custodial parent may start committal proceedings for the other party’s contempt of court. A person found in contempt of court may be committed, that is, imprisoned for a period of time. The court also has the power to refuse to hear submissions from a party in contempt of court until they have purged their contempt, known as a “Hadkinson order”.