A local lawyer says she's fielding non-stop calls from parents wondering how stay-at-home orders may affect court-ordered child custody arrangements.
Greensboro attorney Hilary Hux, who practices family law, says about a third of her clients have reached out to her this week to ask whether stay-at-home orders nullify custody agreements.
She says that in general, they don't. Typically these directives allow for travel required by court order.
“Including to transport children pursuant to a custody agreement," she says. "So people really shouldn't be too concerned about getting out on the roads if it's for the purpose of transferring their children to the other parents.”
Hux says some of her clients have made new informal arrangements with their co-parents to minimize their child's risk of exposure to COVID-19.
"I have one client, for example, who decided it's best for her to have their child full time until this passes," she says. "And they've agreed that in this case, the father would have some make-up time potentially over the summer or kind of whenever we're in the clear. But it's just best for the child's safety right at this moment."
Hux says parents who do not follow court-approved custody orders or agree on alternative arrangements could be held in contempt of court.
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