Louisiana Child Custody Legal Questions

One dirty urine does not generally lose you custody. There must be more to this. You are correct to do everything requested of you by the court. It probably took a long time to get to this position, and will take a long time to get out of it. You would be wise to at least consult with a local family lawyer to determine if there is anything further you can do.... Read More

There is no one clear answer. The police officer would probably contact DHS to have them do an assessment. One obvious question would be where is the other parent? The police might arrest the parent with the drugs and place the child with the other parent, absent some reason not to. Sometimes DHS will work out a safety plan to keep the parent and child together, e.g. if the parent will go immediately into drug treatment. There are many programs that allow children to live with a parent in treatment. (Unfortunately those are mostly programs for women; in-patient treatment programs for dads with their kids are fairly rare.) Another option would be for the parent and child to go live with someone DHS finds trustworthy, like a grandparent (with no criminal record), etc. Policies differ from county to county and even from branch to branch, so there is no universal answer.... Read More

In Louisiana, child support of either spouse becomes a "community" obligation. A prenuptial agreement in which the parties maintain separate property keeps the obligation from becoming one of the community, since there would be no "community" of property. However, the court will always consider the effect that a new spouse's income will have on the expenses of the payor-for example if the new spouse helps with any living expenses, such as food, clothing, rent, etc., that could be counted as additional income for the payor spouse.... Read More