A question that comes up a lot when parents are getting a divorce in West Virginia is whether a parent is going to have access to a child’s school records? The answer to that is generally yes. Once one does go through the whole divorce process, one will have a court order. That court order is either going to specifically talk about things such as access to medical records and school records and so forth or what it’s going to do is it’s going to incorporate by reference an agreed parenting plan or some sort of a parenting plan for the parties to follow. In that parenting plan, a lot of things are laid out and one of those things laid out is access to records.
It might be in the court order or it might be in the actual parenting plan. A court order is going to specifically reference everything that one is going to have access to. Unless there’s a very good reason why one should not have access to their child’s school records, generally all parents are allowed. Sometimes schools for whatever reason will not allow a parent to have access to for example, school records. They are of the belief that somehow, if one person’s the custodial parent, then that means the other person does not have access to the records. The general rule is that one is going to have access to these.
It’s always a good idea to make sure your attorney makes sure that the parenting plan or court order specifically states that both parents have equal access to the records. if the other person is the non-custodial parent and the other is the main parent, in West Virginia, both parents generally have rights to those records. Both parents should have equal access to any kind of records, whether the child is primary living with them or not. If there is a reason why one parent may not be allowed to have access to their child’s records after the divorce, then the court will address that and your attorney can address that issue as well if it comes to that point.
