One of the most contentious issues of divorce is the determination of child custody. While many couples are able to work out an arrangement without a judge's involvement, others fight bitterly over whether a spouse should have any visitation at all.

That was the case with a family in Florida recently. According to arrest records, a woman apparently unhappy with her divorce agreement took her 7-year-old daughter from the state and virtually disappeared, effectively denying her ex-husband his visitation rights. The two allegedly traveled across the country, stopping in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada. She's also accused of changing her address so quickly that it was impossible for court officials to serve a court order.

Police used information from the mother's food stamp card to find her. By tracking her purchases at stores across the country, they eventually caught up with her and the child in Las Vegas, where she used the food stamp card at a Walmart store. She was arrested and charged with removing a minor from the state or concealing location, which is a felony. She was taken to a detention center and her ex-husband was reunited with his daughter.

It's very common for one or both parents to be unhappy with a child custody agreement that's determined by a judge because if it's reached that point, it means the parents couldn't come to an agreement on their own. But once that custody agreement is signed, parents should resist the urge to violate it.

The mother in this case has likely harmed her own custody rights by showing a lack of trustworthiness. As a result, the child's father may get even more visitation, if not full custody. A better option than breaking the law would have been to work with an attorney specializing in family law who could help the couple come up with a custody arrangement that satisfied both of them.

Source: TCPalm, "Fort St. Lucie dad reunited with missing daughter, 7, as mom charged with felony," Keona Gardner, Dec. 19, 2011