Alcohol Abuse Advice

How to Seek Custody of Your Children when Alcohol or Drug Use is Involved

If there is any reason for concern when it comes to your children, it is your fatherly instinct to step in and take action.  And this should not be any different even when you are not the full custodial parent of your child.  If you believe that your ex-wife and/or her boyfriend or spouse are involved in illegal drugs, promiscuous sexual activities, or alcohol abuse, you have the right to file an emergency or temporary order for custody in the courts against your ex-wife.

But if you plan on doing so, be sure you have the proof and evidence to back it up.  Simply stating that you “think” your ex-wife may be using illegal drugs under the same roof as your children is not exactly the most successful way to bring forth an argument into the courtroom.  If, however, you have proof of illegal drug or alcohol abuse in the home of the custodial parent, then you may be able to seek relief for your children through a temporary or emergency order.

Most courts will also enlist the help of the Child Protection Services, or CPS, if there is any reason to believe that the child’s mental, emotional or physical self is quite possibly in harm’s way.  They CAN work with you, but they can also work against you, so be sure you stay on their good side, back up your claims, and have them help you in court when you go back to fight for full custody of your children, in order to keep them safe and out of the poisonous environment that your ex-wife kept them in.

By filing an emergency order, you will immediately get custody until the issue goes to court.  A temporary order must still be seen in the courtroom in order to take place.  In the case of illegal drug or alcohol use, weapons, abuse, or any kind of domestic violence, you can easily file an emergency order to obtain the children until the issue is taken to court.