Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

I am about to go though a custody battle. Here are the stats:

Child: 2 months old,

Wife: 3 domestic violence arrests, 1 drug conviction, no vehicle, no credit, no high school diploma, no job, no work history, and no income. Family includes 2 sisters on unemployment, and parents with a shody work history currently working as care takers and live on the premisis in a guest house. All family members smoke weed, and the sisters drink very often (which is where she would stay - also a 1 bedroom between what would be 3 people and a baby)

Myself: Sailor in the US NAVY, stable work history prior to NAVY, decent credit (650ish - still recovering from a BK and 2 foreclosures 4 years ago), some college + naval trade school (Aegis Computer Networking Technician) and currently enrolled in college, new car with warranty, 2 bedroom apartment with all the baby fixins. My support system who has already agreed to watch the baby while I am away include a sister who is a college grad and married to a pediatrician. My mother is an RN and my father is retired. They have lived in the same house for 25 years.

Will she get custody due to me being gone for 6 months a year in the NAVY? Or, will my support system show that the child is better with me and my family when I'm not around than with her...? I fear the court always favors the mother... especially at such a young age.

P.S. Currently in VA, but will be in CA within 6 months...


Asked on 11/25/10, 6:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

If court must order it, some kind of shared custody arrangement between

the parents (would be what I would predict on these facts).

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Answered on 12/04/10, 11:18 am


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