Domestic violence is always a consideration in a child custody decision, especially if the victim was the child of the parent or partner of the offender. The presence of any violence in the home questions whether it is in the child’s best interest to reside in that home, as indicated in Oklahoma law Title 43 §112.2. 
Domestic Violence Presumption
Under the above referenced statute, a presumption has been established in Oklahoma stating that an abuser’s behavior and future behavior is harmful to the child at issue in the child custody case.
This is also a major issue that your child custody attorney will emphasize to the judge as well. Past and current behavior can be indicative of future behavior.
Challenging the Presumption
Once the presumption is established, the accused parent has the right to rebut the presumption. The opposing child custody attorney has the right to present evidence that shows what the parent has done to change the domestic violence pattern and that your child is no longer at risk in that parent’s care.
The examples of the type of evidence the accused parent may present includes:
- Anger management course completion
- Batterer’s treatment course completion
- Negative results from random or scheduled drug and alcohol tests
- Completing a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program
- Parenting education course completion
- Mental health counseling or therapy
- Participation in Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous
Moral Presumption
In addition to a legal presumption, a court can find a moral presumption. This basically means that if a parent has a history or pattern of domestic violence, then ethically, the abuser should not be the primary caregiver.
Courts take domestic violence very seriously, and a court typically grants visitation or supervised visitation to the abusive parent, even if the violence was not directed at the child. Judges are cautious to award custody to abusive parents because often children that witness abuse grow up to abuse others themselves.
Current Abusive Environment
Another situation that can arise is when a victim of domestic abuse divorces her abuser and is given custody of their children, only to move into a new partner’s house and become a victim of the new partner.
If your ex-spouse becomes aware that you are living in an environment where you allow your children to be around violent behavior, they could petition for custody through the court; the basis being that the parent is unable to adequately protect their children from the violence.
Adequately Defend Yourself
Hiring a child custody attorney that is experienced in domestic violence cases is essential if you are defending a domestic violence accusation or history, or you or your children are the victims of domestic violence.
If there is a history of domestic violence, this will definitely be an issue in your child custody hearing, make sure you hire a child custody attorney as soon as possible. This allows proper preparation to either rebut the domestic violence presumption in your case, or gives your child custody attorney plenty of time to collect evidence proving the pattern and history of domestic violence.
Free Consultation with a Tulsa Child Custody Attorney
Having a child custody attorney that is skilled in domestic violence cases will help you gather the correct documents, emphasize points that judges are likely to consider when ruling on a child custody case involving domestic violence, and walk you through step-by-step of the process.
Hiring an experienced child custody attorney will ensure the process is expertly conducted and your interests are well represented.
Contact an experienced Tulsa divorce attorney when you need to go through the Oklahoma relocation process.
For a free confidential consultation, call now: 918-924-5526.
