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Reasons why parents may lose custody of their children

On Behalf of | Oct 14, 2022 | Child Custody

Child abuse and false claims

There are some common reasons why parents lose custody of their children. The vast majority reflect on poor judgment, poor behavior and dubious choices made by a parent. Those reasons include:

  • Child abuse or neglect: Physical and mental abuse represent a near-automatic revocation of child custody. Physical wounds may heal, but emotional wounds may never heal. Parents must feed, clothe, love and encourage their children, not abuse and abandon them.
  • Signs of instability: This may include substance abuse such as drug or alcohol addiction. Other issues that cause alarms include anger, mental illness and depression.
  • Violating the custody order and parenting time: An example is ignoring the right of first refusal. Under the right of first refusal, if your former spouse has a commitment and cannot be with your child, then you must be given the first opportunity to care for the child. Your spouse cannot have his parents, a babysitter a daycare provider watch your child.
  • Relationship interference: Parental alienation is not good for the child. One parent cannot interfere with the child’s relationship with the other parent in an attempt to create a wedge between them.
  • Making false claims about the other parent: This may include fabrications of physical and sexual abuse. Such untruths will create hardship for the children and unfairly taint an innocent parent.

Any of these behaviors may lead to significant changes in child custody schedules.

The children’s best interests

The children’s best interests must always take priority. There is no room for interference, untruths or criminal behavior by one of the parents. Child custody is always modifiable, and therefore parties should not assume that they can behave however they want simply because there is an agreement or custody order already in place.