One thing that parents must understand is that child support and visitation are not related in any way.  In other words, a parent cannot withhold visitation because the other parent is not paying child support, and conversely, a parent cannot withhold child support because the other parent refuses visitation.  TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT.  The retaliating parent destroys an advantage in court and may even be punished more severely than the other parent.

Fourth Circuit Visitation Guidelines

That being said, Northeast Florida has long adopted a standard visitation schedule known as the Fourth Circuit Visitation Guidelines.  Like the child support guidelines, the idea behind the visitation guidelines is to create uniformity between all parents similarly situated.  Basically, the presumption is that this guideline will be the actual visitation schedule for the non-custodial parent.  If one parent believes that the child(ren)’s best interest is served by ordering more or less visitation than that offered by the guidelines, that parent must convince the court.  The guidelines are a minimum, and the parties may always agree to exercise more visitation than required.  

Long Distance Visitation Guidelines

Sometimes, Fourth Circuit Guidelines are or become impractical because one parent lives or moves more than 180 miles away.  In such cases, there is a long-distance guideline that offers larger blocks of less frequent time to the non-custodial parent.