How Can Substance Abuse Affect Child Custody in Alabama?
As a divorcing parent, there is nothing more important than retaining custody of your child so you can care for and raise it through its childhood. However, if you are someone who either has, or is being accused of having a substance abuse issue, it may drastically impact the outcome of your child custody agreement. Please continue reading and speak with our Alabama family law attorneys to learn more. Here are some of the questions you may have:
What are the two primary types of child custody?
The two types of child custody are physical custody and legal custody. Essentially, physical custody refers to which parent the child primarily lives with, which legal custody deals with whether a parent has the right to make certain key life decisions on behalf of their child, such as where that child will go to school, the religion that child practices, the type of medical care the child can receive, and more.
How do Alabama courts determine child custody?
In many cases, Alabama courts would prefer to split custody evenly between parents so both parents can equally participate in their child’s life. However, the primary concern of courts in Alabama is the well-being of your child. That being said, if the courts determine, for whatever reason, that it would not be in the best interests of your child to evenly split joint and physical custody, it will most likely have a significant effect on the outcome of your custody agreement.
How can a substance abuse issue affect child custody?
Since, as previously mentioned, Alabama courts will determine your custody agreement based on the best interests of your child, if you are found to have a substance abuse issue, you are at serious risk of losing custody of your child. For this very reason, if your former spouse is accusing you of a substance abuse issue, you must seek treatment if necessary and retain the services of an experienced Alabama family law attorney who can prove that you either do not have a substance abuse issue, or, if you do, that you are doing everything in your power to correct it. If you have already lost custody of your child, as long as you can prove that you corrected the issue and that you are ready to be a full-time parent for your child, our firm can work to receive a child custody modification to better reflect your current circumstances in life.
Contact our experienced Alabama firm
Stone Crosby, P.C. has proudly served clients in Alabama for over 100 years. Our firm has experience handling matters including divorce and family law, estate planning and administration, business law, employment law, class actions, consumer protection, business law, real estate law, among many others. If you require quality legal representation, contact our firm today to schedule a consultation.
