Q: My Ex Has Filed For Custody Of Our Child. His Allegations Are: 1.That I Have Not Maintained Employment 2. I Am Totally
Dependent On Various Men And My Parents Financially. 3. Our Child Is Nasty And Not Clothed properly And Shows Signs Of Not Being On A Regular Schedule. 4. He Says Family Members HAve Contacted Him With Concerns For our Childs Safety.I Was Not Employed When We Got The Divorce One Year Ago. I Live With The Same Man Then As I Do now. What Do I Need To Do To Retain Full CustodY And Prove That Our Child Is Not In Any Harm And He Has Not Been NegativLy Impacted In Any Way? Thanks!
A: What you need to do is to hire an attorney. You might have the best case in the world, but if you don't know how to present it to a judge, your chances are much, much worse. Once custody has been established, the parent seeking to change custody has a much higher burden to prove when they go to court. It's called the McLendon Standard. If your ex seeks to change a custody modification he must prove, not only that it would be in the best interests of the kids to stay with him, but also that the benefit to the kids would substantially outweigh the inherent disruption of a modification. This is said to be a very high burden. Now the one thing that could be a problem for you is that you are living with some guy that you aren't married to. Judges don't like kids living in the same household when mom is in making whoopee with boyfriend in the other room. What's the deal there? The guy doesn't love you enough to make a life long commitment? You didn't have enough self respect to cut off the relationship when it became clear that the guy wanted to play the field? Grow up. Don't let this leach bleed you any further. Get married or get rid of him.
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