Plano Divorce Lawyers Blog

A North Texas man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his 10-year-old daughter while he was drinking on Christmas Eve in 2009. The shooting occurred when, in a drunken state, he was giving his daughter a lesson in handling firearms. The father, who lives in a town near Plano, had installed a video camera to gather evidence in a child custody fight. The shooting was witnessed by his son.

Frequently, the safety of children, particularly when one of the parents abuses alcohol or drugs, is an issue in child custody battles. Our family lawyers have found that proving a parent is abusing alcohol or drugs is becoming easier because of the increased willingness of judges to order random drug and alcohol testing for the alleged abuser. However, proving that a parent is drinking excessively or using illegal drugs is only half the fight. A parent who seeks to limit visitation or possession by a parent because of alcohol or drug abuse must also prove that the child is not safe with that parent. This recent event, where a child custody battle had already ensued, will increase the awareness of our judges that the safety of a child is paramount to allowing the parent who has a problem with alcohol or drugs to have unsupervised access to the child.

Moreover, this incident also proves the benefit to a parent seeking to limit custody of children by a parent who abuses alcohol or drugs of videotaping what is transpiring during the visitation period. Frequently, that parent has no proof that the abuse is taking place or that the children are unsafe in the situation. At Easley & Marquis, our Collin County family lawyers encourage parents in those circumstances to engage a private detective agency to videotape the other parent at times and places where the suspected parent will be with the children and likely to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. While hiring a private investigator may be costly, putting a price on a child's safety is something most parents in a child custody fight find difficult to do.