Child Custody — Visitation Travel Burden · 11 September 2026
Karnataka High Court Modifies Visitation Order Requiring a 10-Year-Old to Travel Nearly 1,000 km a Month
High Court of Karnataka · 2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 346
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The couple's younger child was already living with the mother in Honnavar, while their elder son, aged 10, lived with and attended school in Bengaluru. A Family Court order directed that the boy travel to Honnavar — about 475 km away — every alternate Friday evening after school to spend the weekend with his mother, and travel back on Sunday in time for school on Monday. The father challenged this before the High Court, pointing out that it required the child to cover close to 1,000 km every month.
The Karnataka High Court modified the arrangement. It held that the child's welfare must remain the paramount consideration, and that requiring a 10-year-old to undertake such a physically demanding travel schedule around a full school day on both ends effectively made the child "a victim of the disputes" between his parents. In place of the weekly travel, the Court directed that the father hand over custody to the mother on the second Saturday of alternate months, returning the child the following Sunday, in addition to time with the mother during school vacations.
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