QUESTION
Drug charges vs. aggravated assault charges in child custody case?
Asked on Apr 12th, 2015 on Child Custody - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
I have a pending drug related case in court right now, but my soon to be ex husband has a few aggravated, and simple assaults, harrassment, and DUI's on his record, I want supervised visits for our 6 month old son and I to have custody but do not know if my pending case which will result in ending with a drug felony on my record will hurt me.
1 ANSWER
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The answer is that a drug conviction can be a factor weighted against you during a custody hearing or trial, but that it will be 1 factor among 15 that the Court uses to determine custody.
One of the factors for deciding custody is drug/alcohol issues of either party. You mention that your husband has at least one DUI. Hence this factor will likely be counted against both of you.
There are other factors that are significantly important. One of these is who has been the primary caretaker for the child. Since your child is young, this is obviously a difficult factor to decide, and could go either way to decide based on the facts.
In addition, there are numerous other factors that the court will review in determining custody, and these factors tend to be very fact specific.
My advice is to consult a custody lawyer in your jurisdiction due to the fact-intensive nature of custody battles. A lawyer will be able to decide how to handle your case.
Answered on Apr 24th, 2015 at 7:51 AM