Speaking from experience, I think that the courts should enforce the visitation order as aggressively as they do the support order. We all hear the stories about the deadbeat fathers, but what about the fathers that pay their support on time nearly every time (sometimes shit happens that is out of his or anyone's control) but are continuously denied court ordered visitation? Like me, I travel about 700 miles (1 way) at least once a month to visit my child (the visitation schedule is sent each Dec. for the upcoming year, and I always plan it out for 15 - 16 months, so from Jan. 09 - April '10), only to get there to be told some shit like, "I didn't know you were coming so we made plans already." Or for summer vacation (I was to bring my child back up here for the summer) to be told, when I was 2 hours away, "You didn't give me a 30 day notice, so I I am denying your summer visitation. I guess the part in the order that says that I only have to notify her IF I AM NOT COMING, and that it is assumed that I will be exercising my visitation must've slipped by her.
Between travel for denied visitations and lawyer fees I'm probably out $10K. She's already been found in contempt once for doing this shit, and all she got was a big nothing. She's supposed to pay my legal fees, but of course she hasn't paid 1 fucking dime to me yet. But let me miss 1 child support payment and she'll be dragging me into court so the judge can rip me a new asshole. She even had the nerve to try and get the child support to go thru the Georgia Department of Human Resources, who would then tack on their fees to what I already pay, when it has been getting processed by my employer's (federal gov't) payroll processing office. As I told her and the judge in court, "She gets paid BEFORE I do. When I get paid, the support has already been deducted and posted to her account." The judge asked her, "Are you getting the support payments? (Yes) Then there is no problem, and no need to change anything."
And I know quite a few men who have similar stories. But we never hear about them.
Sorry!!! I just had to vent. This shit is building up, and I'm just waiting to get my notice to appear in court, AGAIN, and hopefully get this bitch put in her place!