Substance abuse is a relatively common medical issue. Alcoholism runs in some families. Some people develop chemical dependencies during treatment for medical issues. Others may experiment with chemicals while they are young and then discover that they cannot stop.
When a married person struggles with substance abuse, their addiction can affect family life. Substance abuse can diminish household finances by generating expenses and impacting earning potential. It can also affect the stability of the home environment.
Particularly when parents start living separately, there may be reason to worry about a parent who uses drugs or alcohol regularly having parenting time without the other parent present. Do the courts consider substance abuse when allocating parental rights and responsibilities?
Impairment affects parenting
Substance abuse inevitably affects how people interact with their children. People may become agitated and unpredictable. They may be too impaired to meet the needs of their children. They also demonstrate unsafe behavior.
Substance abuse can influence what a judge believes is in a child’s best interests. However, a judge generally does not accept one spouse’s verbal claims of misconduct when making major determinations about parental rights and responsibilities.
The parent claiming there is a substance abuse issue in the family typically needs documentation to support their allegations. Medical records, financial documents and witness testimony can help validate claims that one parent may not be in a position to actually parent as they should.
Those dealing with contentious child custody scenarios may need support. Asking a judge to consider substance abuse issues could protect children from a volatile and unsafe situation, but parents must prepare carefully when seeking an uneven allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.