Has anyone here divorced an alcoholic spouse while the children are still at home? I have stuck this out for years now, but cannot tolerate it any longer because the drinking has escalated drastically lately. My spouse thinks it’s OK to drink and drive and has done so with the kids (long story - i was not there to realize that this was happening). I now drive the kids everywhere because it is the only way to ensure that spouse does not sit in the car and drink before driving them (time of day makes no difference - drinking has occurred like this at 8 am).
My questions are -
Have you been able to obtain a custody assignment that prohibits the alcoholic spouse from driving the children anywhere? I would love to have sole custody but from what I’ve read, it’s very rare in NC. If you were able to arrive at such an arrangement, what type of proof did you have to provide to the court to prove the other parent would./has endangered the children?
Have you had to have our children testify or otherwise make statements to the court to about a parents habitual drunkenness? If so, how old were the children and how did they handle this? My kids are old enough and smart enough to know what is going on, they see it and it’s killing me. Having them testify in a custody hearing seems like a difficult thing for a child to do, but they also hate the current situation.
Do you have any advice on separating/divorcing an alcoholic when underage children are involved? How do you handle visitation in this situation?
Thank you for any input.