Accusations of domestic violence are taken seriously by the courts. This is especially true when there are children involved in the situation. It is estimated that around 3 million children are witnesses to domestic violence each year. Some people don’t realize that domestic violence matters, even accusations, can impact child custody.
For the individuals who face allegations of domestic violence, there is a chance that negative impacts on their parenting abilities might occur. These may be temporary until the court determines exactly what’s going on with the children. The court will conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened.
Family law courts won’t just blindly accept domestic violence accusations. Instead, they will try to determine exactly what happened. This can include reviewing any police reports or other evidence that shows what’s going on. They may look for a history of domestic abuse and see if there is a pattern.
When it comes to the child custody issues, the court looks into how the incidents that occurred impacted the children. The goal is to determine what’s in their best interests. There is a chance that the court will err on the side of caution in these matters. If this occurs, it might order that the person accused of domestic violence only has supervised visits until a determination can be made about what’s best for the children.
If you’re the one who’s facing these accusations, be sure to consider the impact on the family law matter when you plan your defense. Unfortunately, you might find that you’re battling two different court matters at once.