I do not drink or do any type of illegal drug, even though the mother of my son abuses alcohol and sometimes does drugs, right in front of my son when I was not home. I have witnesses to this behavior and the police have been called to my home on several occasions, even though there was no police report for these. At the time we are living together, she even had to make a court appearance and left the child in the car. I know on the most responsible parent, but I hear that only mothers get physical custody of the child, is this true?
Answer:
First of all let me address your language, you are not “just the father”, you are a parent of that child. I have no idea how in this day and age, with all these quality issues, a father feels that he is “just the father” and not a parent. Now to actually answer your question, yes you can get physical custody of your son based on the facts your provided me. You would need to file a motion with the court for custody and have a hearing on that motion in which your lawyer or yourself would provide the court with all the evidence that you are claiming to have. In situations such as this, it is always best to have an experienced family law attorney on your side, since we are talking about the custody of your child that is living with an alcoholic who abuses drugs. It is true that general the courts do favor that the mother have physical custody of a child, even though it is not written into the war anyway as such. But in a situation such as yours, where the child is obviously in danger by being in the custody of an unfit mother, you would certainly be able to motion the courts for full physical custody of the child. Furthermore, if the mother is employed, you can also go after child support once you have physical custody of the child, as child support is not a one way street. Child support is paid by the noncustodial parent, to help the custodial parent maintain habitable living conditions for the child in question. Therefore not only could you become the physical custodial parent, but in this situation you could even go after child support.
Joseph F. Botelho, Esq.
BOTELHO LAW GROUP
Attorneys At Law
901 Eastern Ave.
Unit 2
Fall River, MA 02723
Office: 888-269-0688
Email: jbotelho@botelholawgroup.com
https://www.botelholawgroup.com/
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