How Civil Offenses Impact Child Custody Cases

Hello, my name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a Tulsa Fathers Rights Attorney here with Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable.

Last time we talked about the issue of traffic offenses and if that affects custody. The last thing I want to talk about is other types of civil stuff. Obviously, we talked about protective orders. Those definitely do impact your rights to your kid, but what about other civil stuff?

I would say as a general rule, most types of civil stuff outside of protective orders and the deprived court probably isn’t going to affect your rights to your child. Except maybe, and this is a maybe, maybe if it’s something involving fraud because that would go to your character. Although the bigger problem with that is your believability as a court witness.

Relevance of Civil Offenses in Child Custody Cases

The relevance of anything else general civil is probably going to really go to how, if at all, it impacts child welfare. In other words, what’s in the best interest of that child. So yeah, theoretically a fraud case might make you look like someone whose character has problems. Obviously, it makes you a less than credible witness, which is a problem. If you’re in a car wreck where you were clearly at fault, if there was a finding of recklessness, that could potentially become relevant and be a problem.

But as a general rule, getting sued on most types of things is probably not an issue. Probably. I mean, there’s always exceptions. You get sued for a civil battery, that could be a problem. You get sued for fraud, as I said. You get sued for anything that involves any amount of violence, that’s a potential problem. But generally, I would say most types of random civil stuff probably doesn’t matter. But it’s not to say that it might not come up anyway.

Seek Legal Advice and Consultation

So, the bottom line with all of this is this is stuff you want to tell your lawyer about. And guys, if you have questions about any of that, I would encourage you to go to dads.law. Our fathers are not disposable.