What Is an Absent Parent?
“Absent parent” is a legal term that may define the way some parents relate or fail to relate to their children. These parents are not the custodial parent, or the parent with whom a child lives. Instead, they are non-custodial parents who do not reside with the child. There are a couple of ways the term absent parent can be used. Once child custody arrangements are determined, the parent who does not live with the child, and who usually only has visiting rights without sharing custody, is the absent parent. This parent can still be involved in a child’s life and pay child support, but he or she doesn’t live with the child, so he or she is absent or missing from the child’s daily life.
