Am I Legally Obligated to Make My 5 Year Old Son Accept or Return Calls With His Father When My Son Is In My Possession?

Q:  “We currently have a custody case in the courts of Westchester NY, with the preliminary hearing taking place August 2022. To mitigate unnecessary issues, I shared my son’s ipad information with his dad for him to call him directly, and that he can contact me directly to do wellbeing checks and ask questions about his emotional, mental and psychical needs. However, my son does not like talking to his father when his girlfriend hops in on their facetime session. Because of this, my son does not want to answer the calls and or return them. My son’s father is now accusing me of preventing him from talking to his son. There is no court order custody in place, but I have initiated the process and have our first appearance, August 2022.”

A: “You’re not ‘legally obligated’ if there’s no court order requiring you to facilitate the calls. That said, you should simply explain to the Father what the son’s concern is, and that the call is intended to be between him & the child. For a full assessment, schedule a consult with a Westchester Child Custody attorney.”