When I started to work with the city, I realized that I was going to be working alongside our attorneys every single day. While I was a little nervous around them at first, we quickly became friends and all of that anxiety melted away. It was really neat to see how many different subjects they could handle, and I realized just how necessary they were for helping me to manage various daily occurrences. On this website, I thought it would be really great to start talking about how to work with lawyers, and what it might mean for you and your family if you seek legal advice early.
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How Incarceration Complicates Child Custody Issues
Cassandra Stone
Serving time in prison can have a serious dent on your bid to have custody of your child. The effect starts from the moment you are incarcerated and continues even after your release. If you are having trouble with a custody issue due to your incarceration, seek out family law attorney services to help. Below are some of the ways incarceration can affect child custody.
Impracticality of Physical Custody
The minute you are incarcerated, there is no way you can get or maintain physical custody of your child. The child cannot go to prison because of you. Therefore, all you are left to do is to seek other forms of custody, such as shared legal custody, of the child.
Even if you get shared custody, your role in the child's life may be limited because you can't do much from behind bars. For example, you may be unable to make quick medical decisions when the child is sick or make it to parent-teacher conferences.
The De Facto Angle
Your custody issues won't end even after you get out of prison. One reason for this is that the courts are often reluctant to change the status quo when it comes to child custody; there must be compelling reasons to change custody.
This is particularly true if the other parent had been taking care of the child while you were in prison, and they have done a good job of it. Say the child has moved to a new neighborhood, they are in school, and they have made new friends. In such a case, the parent has gained de facto custody of the child, and the court may see no reason to break up the setup.
The Criminal Tag
The fact that you have served time for a crime may also work against you when you start pursuing custody of your child. The effect can be particularly pronounced if you were convicted of a violent, sexual, or abuse crime. Those are crimes that might put a child's life in danger, and the welfare of the child is the most important thing to the court.
Financial Difficulties
Incarceration can do a number on your financial circumstance in more ways than one. For one, you may spend a lot of money on your criminal defense. Secondly, your business may suffer if you are incarcerated. Lastly, you won't earn your salary if you are behind bars.
Also, many ex-convicts find it difficult to find and hold down jobs after release. This may force you to move from place to place in search of work. The authorities may view your inability to settle in one place as proof of instability in your life – instability that you shouldn't share with the child.
Parent Child-Relationship
The relationship between a parent and a child is one of the factors that determine child custody. Your relationship with the child may not be as strong as it used to be before prison. Maybe you don't even know the child's favorite hobby, you haven't played with them in a while, and they are reluctant to confide in you.
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