This is How a Mother Can Lose a Custody Battle

Mothers can and do lose custody battles to fathers...here is how

Fathers often think there is a bias against dads in family court. Our experience is very different. Not only is there not a bias but there are proven ways on how a mother can lose a custody battle to a father. In this informative guide, we walk you through the the top 6 ways mothers lose custody of their child.

How does a mother's physical abuse cause her to lose custody of a child?

Physical abuse is a legal basis for a mother to lose custody of the child.

If you as the father allow physical abuse to continue and do not act, you may be committing child neglect.

You have a duty to protect your child. There is no time to waste. There is no better time than now to remove a child from a physically abusive situation.

You may be concerned about the custody battle ahead. You may believe the mother will deny the allegations. That is not a reason to allow a child to remain abused. A custody battle against an abusive mother can and should be won. An experienced child custody attorney can show you how.

Mother's physical abuse of the child as a reason to lose custody

A mother loses custody of the child because of physical abuse of the child in any of the following ways.

1. A report of the physical abuse to the proper law enforcement, who then takes action,
2. A report to social services, sometimes called child protective services, who then opens a case and investigates the allegations. Child protective services has the power to remove a child from a physically abusive home and temporarily provide custody to the non-abusing parent or even other family members. That may then lead to a "Dependency" court action.
3. A Family Court action where the father files a request for order with the court. This request for order tells the court about the mother's abuse. It usually asks the court to award the father sole legal and sole physical custody with professionally monitored visitation to the mother.

Keep in mind there are mandatory reporters in California.

These mandatory reporters have a legal duty to report suspected abuse.

If you know or reasonably should know the mother is abusing your child, still do nothing and the first report is by a mandatory reporter, that may reflect poorly on you.

Mother's physical abuse of the father as a reason to lose a custody battle

A mother loses custody of the child because of physical abuse of the father in the following ways.

Law enforcement arrested the mother because of a domestic violence incident.

This typically leads to the father receiving an emergency protective order from the police and a possible criminal protective order from the criminal law judge. The criminal protective order occurs if the district attorney or city attorney prosecutes the mother.

The father's domestic violence restraining order petition in Family Court, where the father requests sole legal and sole physical custody and likely supervised visitation for the mother.

Can a mother's emotional abuse really cause her to lose custody of a child?

Emotional abuse comes in different forms. Here are the most common.

1. A mother's verbal abuse towards child: This is usually badgering, disparaging or belittling the child through yelling at him or her for unjustified reasons.
2. A mother's parental alienation of the father: Parental alienation takes many forms and we provide you with two links below that go deeply into this topic.
3. Withholding love or emotional support from the child: This may be the most difficult to prove.
4. Physical or emotional abuse of the father or sibling: No child should witness abuse. If a mother exposes a child to physical abuse of the father or the child's sibling, that is proper grounds for the mother to lose custody of the child.

How serious must neglect be for a mother to lose custody?

Serious neglect is proper grounds for a mother to lose custody.

There is no "perfect parent" standard in the California Family Code. Family law judges understand parenting is an imperfect process. Parents will make mistakes.

There is a difference between a mistake and a consistent poor exercise of judgment.

A mother's serious neglect that endangers the health, safety, education, or general welfare of the child should cause the mother to lose custody of her child.

Neglect that may cause a mother to lose custody of her child includes conduct that jeopardizes necessities. This includes food, shelter, clothing, and education.

For example, a mother may lose custody of the child if she is unwilling to provide the child with a safe place to live. She may also lose custody of the child if the child suffers from malnutrition, is not properly clothed or fails to attend school.

What is frustration of parenting time and how can it lead to a mother losing custody?

Frustration of parenting time does not have a specific definition in the California Family Code.

However, we have a specific definition for it. We call frustration of parenting time (1) consistently and (2) unreasonably limiting or interfering with the other parent's parenting time.

A mother who consistently and unreasonably frustrates a father's parenting time should lose custody. We provide three reasons for this conclusion.

1. Frustrating a father's parenting time shows a lack of respect for the father's role in the child's life,
2. Frustrating parenting time also shows an inability or refusal to co-parent, and
3. A mother who frustrates a father's parenting time is usually also capable of engaging in worse conduct, such as parental alienation. We commonly see frustration of parenting time that goes unpunished eventually lead to active alienation.

Can a mother's violation of a court order cause her to lose a custody battle?

Violations of court order are like any other form of misconduct.

The more serious the violation is, the more serious the consequences should be. Assume a mother is consistently late to drop off or pick up of a child by a few minutes.

That may technically be a violation of a court order. That rarely, if ever, will result in any change in custody.

Now assume a mother decides the court's order that provides the father with specific parenting time is a suggestion, not a directive. Therefore, she cancels the father's parenting time when she wishes to do so.

That is a serious violation and if, it continues, that should lead to a mother losing custody of a child.

The biggest mistake we see fathers make is to allow the violations of the court order to go without any consequence. We understand why a father may sometimes do this. He wants to avoid conflict.

However, what a father who does this does not understand is the lack of action promotes conflict.

Doing nothing accomplishes nothing

A mother will simply not understand that she is at risk of losing custody if the father allows the mother to violate court orders.

All that does is solidify for the mother the delusion court orders are mere suggestions and not directives she must follow.

The longer a father allows this to happen, the harder it may be to convince the court the father is taking the situation seriously.

What is your next step?

Fathers who are serious about parenting and who deal with very unreasonable mothers who engage in willful or reckless misconduct should not hesitate to seek court intervention.

Your child is worth your time and effort.

To allow your child to be in an unsafe or unhealthy environment can have a lasting, negative impact on his or her life.

There is no substitute for legal advice from and representation by an experienced California family law attorney. We believe good men and women deserve great family law representation. Contact us for a strategy session.