My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Virginia
The father of my child and I were never married. I have been living in the the same state since my daughter was born. Her father lives on the other coast. I have sole custody and have been her sole provider. Up till now, he has done very little to be in his daughter's life and never paid child support. Any time he has seen her (which are but a few times, was b/c I took it upon myself to fly her out to see him). I recently asked him for money and now he is saying that in return he expects to see our daughter one week at Christmas, one week at Easter, and a month in the Summer. He has been here to visit her 2 times in 4 years and one of those times I made him come. She is 4 and to her, he is just some guy that we call "Dad," and she has found it very stressful to spend any time with. She still doesn't really know him and so she gets very anxious about being with him. Anyway, now that I asked for some financial assistance, he is starting this visitation issue. My question is, if I took this to court - what kind of visitation might a VA court be willing to grant him? I don't have a problem with her spending time with her, but I certainly do not think that sending our 4 year old to be alone for a week or month at a time with a guy she hardly knows is a reasonable request.