Alcoholism and Child Custody

Alcoholism is a problem in society than most would guess. While some people consider themselves “social drinkers,” they might in fact be alcoholics that rely on alcohol to have a good time. Alcoholism is something of a disease, like any addiction. While it is not nearly as serious an allegation in a child custody battle as drug abuse is, it is still serious.

When a parent is said to be an alcoholic and the other spouse has evidence to back it up, the alcoholic parent can be in a tough situation regarding retaining any part of custody or unsupervised visits with the children.

The biggest problem with alcoholism is that while a parent is drunk or out drinking, that parent is not paying attention to the children and seeing to their needs. In addition, alcohol compromises a person’s judgment and may lead that parent to do some pretty risky things with the kids in the car.

There have been reports of a parent taking his or her children to see the doctor for their yearly physical but driving them there while drunk. The children have no control over the situation and are completely at the mercy and good sense of their parents. When the parent’s judgment is compromised due to alcohol, the risks for the children go up.

Courts are supposed to award the custody of the children to the parent that will be able to care for them best and keep them safe. Alcoholism impedes the ability of a parent to do this and so the children are at risk.

Contact a San Jose Child Custody Lawyer

If your former spouse who has custody of the children is an alcoholic and you would like to rework the child custody arrangement, contact the San Jose child custody lawyers of the Law Office of Daniel Jensen at 408-296-4100.