Can False Abuse Allegations Affect Custody?

You bet.  There are plenty of cases where one parent decides to allege that the other abuses their children, whether it is verbal, emotional, physical, or even sexual.  Many times these allegations are untrue, unfounded, and designed to simply force a party to give in.  Of course, if you believe something IS going on, you need to protect your child by conferring with the proper authorities.  But this blog is really about those situations where there is no basis – a parent is just trying to get their way.

In those instances, we sometimes see that even after professionals are brought in and determine that no abuse occurred, the accusing parent will continue to make the allegations, and report to other experts, trying to find someone, anyone, to agree with them.  Eventually the Court can tire of these games, and in some cases, we see that the Court will give custody to the parent being falsely accused, based on the idea that these continued allegations destroy the parent-child relationship, or at least poison it, and that the child’s best interest would be served by living with the non-accusing parent.  For a case on point, check out In the Interest of A.D., No. 14-12-00914-CV, or click In the Interest of A.D. 2014-14-12-00914-cv (false allegations of abuse).

Pro Se Divorce Forms – Approved, but with Caution

The Texas Supreme Court recently approved a set of pro se divorce forms, with some pretty extensive disclaimers.  Specifically among those disclaimers is that these are only to be used for limited property, no children, no contest divorces.  Note that you should always sit down with someone that knows the process (a lawyer) and discuss your options.  Even the form’s disclaimer says that you should hire a lawyer.   In my experience, NOT hiring a lawyer tends to end up much more expensive when you have to get the order modified or corrected in the future.