Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Pending divorce
I am on a 6 month deployment, and I get back on Dec. 21st. Just in the last couple of days my wife, has requested that we end our marriage. We had a daughter on Aug 8th. I am a sailor, but will be up for shore duty soon. Plus I only have to go to sea one more time in the next year and a half, possibly six depending on my orders. I have a lot of debt tied into this. I also think she is cheating on me. She won't tell me exactly where she is, but we just got a new apartment. She is a high school dropout and had no job when I met her. I fear she won't be able to support our daughter. I want our daughter. What can I do? What are my chances of getting her. I have a stable job for over two years now, and the ability to support my kid.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Pending divorce
You can always petition for custody but to be frank your chances of winning sole custody are not very good unless you can show more than mother's inability to financially support the child. Finances are not usually considered because she can receive child support from you. The standard is the best interest of the child. This means that you must show that it is in the child's best interest for you to have custody. It is unlikely that you will be able to show that it is in the child's best interest to be taken from the mother when the child is just a few months old. My opinion would change, however, if you have facts supporting that the child is in some sort of danger or neglect from the mother.
You can always petition for joint legal and physical custody (rather than sole custody). This would allow you to be involved in medical and educational decisions (and many other decisions) involving the child. This would also allow you to share the physical custody of the child. You could request to have the child at least 50% of the time. Again, however, given the child's age (and whether the mother is nursing the child) you will probably be awarded less physical custody time than the mother.
If you have any questions please call my office at 301-652-0663.
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