Bad Influences Can Alter Child Custody

After a marriage ends, both spouses move on with their own separate lives. This also usually entails seeing new people and forming new relationships. In situations where parents share custody of minor children after a divorce, who you or your former spouse engages with can have an impact on child custody. At the law office of Blair H. Chan, III, our team is prepared to assist with child custody situations where a new person may have a negative impact on a child’s life. To learn more, call or contact our office today to schedule a free evaluation of your case.

What Factors Impact Child Custody?

At all times during and after a divorce, all decisions and influences affecting minor children are viewed through the lens of whether it is in the child’s best interest. This can include the people that each parent befriends, engages in relationships with, or generally interacts with in the child’s presence. In some cases, these people can be such a bad influence or engage in such deleterious behavior that it is no longer in the child’s best interest for them to be around these people, even with a parent present. Some of the situations or behaviors that may impact a child’s best interests, and subsequently the child custody arrangement, include the following:

• History of domestic violence
• Drug or alcohol use, especially in front of the child
• History of abuse or neglect of children
• History of sexual violence
• Substantial decrease in the safety of a parent’s home
• Substantial deterioration of a parent’s relationship with their child due to outside influences, and more.

Modifying Custody for a Child’s Wellbeing

If you believe that bad influences may be impacting the health and safety of your child when at their other parent’s home, you can petition the court to modify the existing child custody agreement based on a substantial change in circumstances. You must be able to show that it is no longer in the child’s best interests to spend as much time as they do, or spend time alone with, the other parent and others the parent exposes the child to. In this situation, the court has options for altering the custody agreement. They can deny the petition and maintain the arrangement as is, they can award the petitioning parent with more physical custody of the child, or they could require supervised visitation with the parent engaging with bad influences until they prove to the court that their home is safe for their child.

Talk to Our Office to Learn More

Do you have concerns about a new person in your child’s life that may harm their safety or wellbeing? If so, you may have a case for adjusting the current custody arrangement if it is in their best interests to minimize the bad influences in their life. To learn more about your legal options, call the office or contact us today at the law office of Blair H. Chan, III to schedule a consultation with our knowledgeable Tampa family attorney.

https://www.bchanlaw.com/appealing-a-child-custody-or-visitation-order/