and I am sure that his father may argue this. I don’t want to keep my son from his father at all, but I am wanting to accept a job offer out of state, and if I stay in California, I don’t think it will be healthy for my son. His father is an alcoholic, and just got his 3rd DUI. He still continues to drink, and refuses to get help. He says he’s getting help, but he’s referring to his court ordered classes that he takes with the DUI school! He is still drunk some nights when I call him.
How will the court approach the alcoholism, and can I use that as a reason that I don’t want him to have full custody? I’m totally all for visitation, and have done all I can to ensure and support their relationship, but I have seriously had it with the drinking and don’t want my son around it! What can I do to ensure that he isn’t exposed to it?
#1 by Paul W on June 26, 2010 - 10:38 pm
You sure can use that in court. You can say that you feel your son is in danger and is suffering emotional and psychological abuse by the fact he cannot have a proper relationship with his father as he is constantly drunk. You could say this traumatises your son very much and he is not receiving proper emotional stability from his father. The fact that his father has not attended the meetings that he was supposed to at the time which were issued by the court will certainly go in your favour. You must also present to the court any evidence of your husband’s drinking. I think under the circumstances it would be most unlikely that a judge would not grant in your favour. You must though show that you have tried your best to keep and develop a relationship between your son and his father and this just did not work out. You should also make the court aware of where you are going to settle with your son, so that at sometime in the future if his father ever gets his act together then he could have some access. Good luck.
#2 by woodchipper890 on June 26, 2010 - 11:27 pm
First off, how old is your son? In a custody battle, if the child is considered by law to be able to make a judgment on their own behalf (some states say that the determination can be as young as 5 years old). In other words, the child can decide what parent they want to go with. Now considering this guy has had 3 DUI’s, it shows that he has lack of regard for others and his own well being. Thus, the courts should rule in your favor for full custody. But, if he gets a good lawyer, he can still get full visitations, whether they are supervised or not, and you can be locked in to living in that state. If that is the ruling, where you guys have joint custody of the child, to leave the state could be considered kidnapping. My suggestion if you are concerned about custody is to get a good lawyer yourself. They will know how to approach this and handle it the best way possible so as to not give the courts any doubt that you would be the best parent to go with. Good Luck.