Many parents assume that nothing would cause them to lose custody of their child. After all, where would their child live if not with their parents?
However, a few factors could result in a parent being deprived of custody. Any allegations of physical abuse or domestic violence could result in such an outcome. The explanation for why that’s the case is detailed below.
What happens in family court if you’re charged with domestic violence?
You may have an emergency family court hearing in which a judge may weigh a domestic violence protective order request. You will likely need to prepare yourself to have the court require you to move out of the home you share with your kids and your co-parent if the alleged domestic violence involved them or they witnessed it.
You may find that the judge presiding over your family law case modifies your custodial arrangements (if you have already established them) to only award you visitation rights during this time. They may be either supervised or unsupervised. In the case of the former, you may need to have a family member or friend facilitate the exchanges and communication surrounding the tradeoffs so that you don’t violate the court’s order and further impact your custodial rights.
Parents who lose their custodial rights seldom automatically regain them after the protective order expires or the criminal case wraps up. It may be necessary for you to petition the court to regain those rights. Even then, it’s not guaranteed. This is why you owe it to yourself to take a proactive approach when confronted with domestic violence charges. This may determine how much your pending charges impact your child custody rights.
