My ex partner is an alcoholic,we have been seperated since last april,our 2 and a half year old son lives with me and has done since his mother and i broke up,she has a criminal record for drunk driving twice,drunk driving while diqualified and drivng with no insurance.She was also arrested twice for breech of the peace and had herself put in to a home for the mentally ill.She is now pregnant again and is trying to get custody of our son. I suffer from epilepsy but have been ok for over 4 years,she is claiming that i am an unfit father due to having epilepsy.My solicitor is working on the case but is there a chance she can get custody of our son because of my disability and her being pregnant ?
Hi Dean
Welcome to dadtalk and thanks for posting such an honest thread. 😀 So your son lives with you and has done since April this year correct?
Firstly my friend don't get too fearful of what might happen. If your boy lives with you then you are currenlty the parent in control. The courts will look at what is best for your son which is always a good thing.
We will ask our legal experts (the Childrens's Legal Centre) to sign in an give you some FREE legal advice, it might take them a few day so please hang in there.
I'm no lawyer but would be surprised if your disability made you an unfit father!. When you say your Ex is a "registered" alcoholic ... I'm not sure what that means !
My understanding (and the legal advice may correct this) is that the courts don't usually remove a child from a home unless there is a good reason for doing so, and (assuming that the your son lives with you) I can't see that she has a good reason to argue this. Assuming you are under medical advice for your epilepsy, and that it's pretty uncommon for you to have an attack, I'd say there is no reason to remove him, and there is certainly no reason to give custody to your ex as she sounds unfit. In fact, I'd say there is a cause for you to bring to the attention of social services, the fact that she is pregnant, as the new baby, when born, could be at risk.
One other thing - which will benefit your case in court, but more importantly is a good idea for your son's and your own safety, is to have a plan in case you have an attack, and make sure your son is quite aware of this - if you were to have an attack in front of your son, it would be very scary for him, but knowing what to do (easiest is to call 999) and having someone to talk to will help him, as well as getting you some help.
One thing I forgot to mention - you don't mention if your ex has contact with your son. Because of her record, I would ask your solicitor (if he hasn't already mentioned it) to apply for a defined contact order restricting contact to only supervised contact, and if with a legal undertaking by your ex that she does not consume any alcohol for at least 24 hours before, and during contact, and if any contact is allowed beyond this, that she doesn't take him anywhere by car.
Hi, when i say my partner is a registered alcoholic what i mean is that she was told by the court to attend AA sessions,aswell as this she was also banned for 3 years and given an 18 month community court order.