Sadly enough, domestic violence is a common cause for divorce between two spouses. To make matters worse, this domestic violence, also known as family violence, can impact the abusive parent's ability to see and interact with their child. Because Texas places a high importance on the best interests of the child when creating child custody orders, a history of domestic violence is always a determining factor in the outcome of custody arrangements.
If the court is creating custody orders and your former spouse has committed acts of domestic violence while you were married, it is important to understand how this can affect your future and the future of your child. You should never have to fear for the safety of your family.
How Domestic Violence Accusations Can Impact Custody Arrangements
Domestic violence can be any act done by a family member to cause harm, injury, or sexual assault to another family member and usually involves one parent. Accusations or even arrest for domestic violence can have a negative impact on one's custody case in many ways:
- Termination of parental rights: A history or pattern of domestic violence can lead to one pattern being banned from ever being given custody of the child. This means a parent can lose parental and custody rights.
- Limit existing visitation or custody order: The judge may consider revising an existing order such as revoking overnight visits to avoid putting the child at risk.
- Court may order visitation be supervised: If the abusive parent is given visitation rights, the visits are generally always supervised so that the child is protected. In the most serious cases, the abusive parent's rights may cease altogether. This can happen if the parent has been sexually abusive or if the child was critically injured.
The court will evaluate many factors to determine whether accusations of domestic violence will impact custody matters, such as previous accusations, criminal records, child protective services reports, medical and health records, previous and existing protective orders, and more.
Concerned About Your Custody Case? We Can Help.
At the Mathur Law Offices, P.C., we can help you protect the safety of your family. We will make every effort to address your concerns and provide compassionate support in such a trying time.
Call our divorce attorney to learn more about how we can help you!