Yes. The short answer is yes. 

If you and your spouse are in the middle of a divorce or custody battle, or both, a pending criminal case could certainly have an impact. Ideally, you want to hire an attorney with experience in custody matters, divorces, and domestic violence cases.

Unfortunately, many people use pending criminal charges as a leg up in custody battles and in certain instances, it can be effective. 

Restraining Orders

To start with, in most domestic violence cases there is a restraining order, whether temporary or permanent, in place. Restraining Orders usually designate that the accused cannot come to the home or workplace of the alleged victim. If the children live with the alleged victim, then this means the accused cannot visit the home to see their children. Furthermore, if the children were present during the domestic violence incident, the accused may be prohibited from visiting the children at all - even outside of the home or away from the victim. 

Restraining Orders remain in place until after the case is over, which can sometimes take months. In the meantime, if the accused cannot have contact with the children, cannot visit them, and cannot call them, depending on the age of the children, there can be significant impacts in the dynamic of the relationship between the children and the accused parent. 

Custody & Parental Responsibilities

When it comes to custody, the courts determine two main things in relation to parental responsibilities. The first is physical custody or parenting time. The second is legal custody or decision-making power. Courts make this determination by attempting to determine the best interests of the child(ren). If the accused is found guilty of domestic violence, it is common to see that parent receive less parenting time, or even supervised visitation, to protect the children, depending on the facts of the case. A lack of a close bond or relationship is one of the many factors that courts take into consideration, so a restraining order that impedes the accused’s time and access to the children is absolutely relevant. 

Legal custody or decision-making power is generally the most impacted custodial area. Decisions are broken into four categories: Medical, religious, educational, and extracurricular. Often, there domestic violence is present, courts find that it is not in the best interests of the child to allocate equal decision-making responsibility to both parents unless the parents can make decisions cooperatively and in a safe manner. In domestic violence cases, it is not often that the parties can safely, without manipulation and pressure, successfully co-parent and make mutual decisions for the child. So many times where there is a restraining order in place, legal custody is given to the parent who has residential custody of the children. 

Conclusion

Overall, being charged with domestic violence is a serious and scary experience. But that stress is only amplified when child custody is thrown into the mix. 

This is why selecting an attorney who is experienced at handling both is key! Not only do you save the time and money of not having to hire two separate attorneys for the domestic violence and custody cases, but you get an attorney with expertise and who understands how the two issues are interconnected.