Child Custody & Social Services

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Hello,

For the past several months, I have been dealing with a nightmarish separation in which my wife left me for another man that she attempted to replace me as the father to our child with (I say this because she has literally posted on facebook and sent messages to her family members that reached out to me that this boyfriend of hers was going to be my child’s “new father” and that there was nothing that I could do about it). This boyfriend has confronted me on several different occassions - threatening to kill me on my property, informing me that he would be “hitting” my child if he felt the need to do so, and disallowing me from speaking to my wife without he himself being present for all exchanges of my daughter and has set it up so that the only way I can talk to my ex is if I call his phone and get permission from him beforehand. My daughter is 3 years old and has told me several times that he has hit her & begs me not to make her go to her mommy’s house in the evenings that I have to exchange her. Legally, all we have is a separation agreement that states that we have joint physical and legal custody. I negligently did not include any type of cohabitation clause, etc. in our agreement, so I have been reluctant to withhold her from my ex so that she could then sue me, etc.

Fast forward to recently - social services has gotten involved and removed the child from my ex’s home. Placed her in my care with supervised visitation only being allowed to my wife. The boyfriend is to not be around my child whatsoever right now, per their instruction. I sued my wife for custody, and then my wife sued me for a temporary parenting arrangement because she claims that I have kept her child from her without good reason and have refused visitation to her, which is all false. Social services has informed me that they will be recommending to the court that I pursue legal custody of my child as my wife and the boyfriend both are not exercising proper caretaking abilities in regard to my child.

My question to you all is, how likely is it that I will receive custody with social services recommending that I am granted custody?

2

Having social services recommending custody to you is certainly beneficial, but there are many factors that are taken into consideration by the court so it is impossible for me to give you an opinion about your likelihood of success based on a quick forum post. You should have a consultation with an attorney in your area to discuss all the facts of your child custody claim and make a determination of how you should best proceed to get the outcome you desire in court.