Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana
Abuse allegations and custody reversal
I am a father with custody of 3 kids. I got re-married last year. My ex-wife has been telling the kids that their step-mom is not the boss of them and that they don't have to listen to her so they don't listen to her. Last week the oldest (age 8) was beating up his brother (age 5) and mouthing off to my wife. I was not home at the time so I am only getting bits and pieces of what happened. My wife smacked him (she is not sure of where but thinks that it was on the arm / shoulder, but definatly not the face) Like I said earlier the boys were fighting and punching each other in the face. The oldest woke up with a bruise under his eye. When he got to school he told the counsler that his step-mom had been hitting him. They called CPS and started an investigation. Accused my wife of abuse and turned it over to the prosecuiter. (told us that nothing was likely to happen) The investigator actually told us that if the kids are fighting to call the police!!!! We are not allowed to touch them.
My questions are this....
1. Am I going to lose custody of the kids over this?
2. Should I hire a lawyer to represent my wife?
3. Does CPS automatically assume the parents are always guilty?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Abuse allegations and custody reversal
Your situtation depends in part on the action the mother of the children now takes. If she seeks to modify custody, I have had cases where the court will agree and modify and cases where there is no modification. However, it presents a serious problem and there is a need to balance what authority the step-parent has against how the parent would act in the same situation. I would advise at least family counseling for you, the children and the step-mother and invite mother to join the counseling - as a step to get her input on how she expects the children to act in public, as well as in private. She may be just encouraging the children to act up to get custody. It can happen.
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