How Child Custody Proceedings Affect Domestic Violence Defense
Two courtrooms, two judges, two completely different sets of rules, but the same accusations following you into both. Domestic violence charges don’t stay confined to criminal court. They bleed into family court, affecting custody decisions and visitation rights. What you say in one courtroom can be used against you in the other, and the strategies that protect you criminally might hurt you in custody battles.
Why Criminal and Family Court Collide in Domestic Violence Cases
Criminal court decides whether you’re guilty of a crime. Family court decides what’s best for your children. These courts operate under different standards, different rules of evidence, and different burdens of proof.
In criminal court, prosecutors must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. In family court, judges make custody decisions based on preponderance of evidence, a much lower standard. Evidence that wouldn’t convict you criminally can still cost you custody or visitation rights.
The collision creates strategic dilemmas. Admitting fault or accepting a plea deal in criminal court might make you look guilty in family court. Fighting charges aggressively while family court proceedings are pending can create inconsistent positions that judges notice.
How Domestic Violence Charges Impact Custody Determinations
Family court judges must consider domestic violence when making custody and visitation decisions. In most states, there’s a legal presumption that awarding custody to a parent with a history of domestic violence is not in the child’s best interest.
This presumption doesn’t mean you automatically lose custody, but it shifts the burden. You must prove that granting you custody won’t harm the children. That’s difficult while criminal charges are pending or after a conviction.
The Best Interest Standard Gets Complicated
Family courts evaluate custody using the “best interest of the child” standard. Factors include each parent’s ability to provide a safe environment, history of abuse, and the child’s relationship with each parent.
Domestic violence allegations poison this analysis. Even unproven allegations raise questions about safety. Judges err on the side of caution when children’s welfare is at stake, which means restrictions on your custody often happen before any criminal conviction.
Protection From Abuse Orders and Emergency Custody
Many domestic violence situations involve Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders. When a PFA is granted, it typically includes emergency custody provisions giving temporary custody to the protected party.
These emergency orders happen quickly, often without you present. The standard for granting a temporary PFA is low. Once granted, these orders can remain in effect for months or years, fundamentally altering your relationship with your children during the entire criminal process.
The Strategic Dilemma: Defending Both Cases Simultaneously
When Silence in Criminal Court Speaks Volumes in Family Court
In criminal proceedings, you have the right to remain silent. Exercising that right can’t be used against you criminally. But in family court, your silence can be interpreted negatively. Judges may view your refusal to address allegations as evasiveness.
This creates pressure to explain your side in family court while protecting your Fifth Amendment rights in criminal court. Balancing these competing interests requires coordination between your criminal defense attorney and family law attorney.
The Plea Deal Problem
Plea agreements often involve accepting guilt to lesser charges or agreeing to anger management programs. These deals can minimize criminal penalties and avoid trial uncertainty.
But in family court, that plea can be devastating. Admitting guilt to any domestic violence offense creates a documented history of abuse that family court judges will consider.
How Plea Deals Affect Custody Decisions
- Judges view guilty pleas as admissions that abuse occurred
- Mandatory counseling suggests you have a violence problem
- Any criminal record affects custody evaluations and background checks
- Future custody modifications become more difficult with a conviction
Before accepting any plea deal, understand its impact on custody. Sometimes fighting the criminal charges makes more strategic sense when custody is at stake.
Discovery Sharing Between Courts
Information from one proceeding can surface in the other. Depositions, testimony, and documents filed in family court can become evidence in criminal court. Statements you make in custody hearings can be used by prosecutors.
This cross-pollination requires extreme caution about what you say and file in either proceeding.
Three Critical Timing Considerations
1. When Criminal Charges Come First
If you’re arrested before custody proceedings begin, the criminal case should generally take priority in your defense strategy. A criminal conviction creates facts that family court will use against you.
However, waiting for criminal resolution means potential months without normal access to your children.
2. When Custody Disputes Trigger Criminal Allegations
Sometimes domestic violence accusations emerge during contentious custody battles. These allegations may be strategic moves by the other parent to gain advantage.
When timing suggests accusations are custody-motivated, that context matters in criminal defense. However, family court judges are cautious about dismissing allegations as fabricated.
3. When Both Proceedings Happen Simultaneously
The worst scenario is fighting both battles at once. Criminal and family court dates compete for attention and resources. Coordinated legal representation becomes essential.
The Role of Evidence in Both Courts
Criminal Court Evidence Standards
Criminal courts have strict evidence rules. Hearsay is generally inadmissible. The prosecution must prove every element beyond reasonable doubt. You have the right to confront witnesses and challenge evidence.
These protections make criminal cases harder to prove. Many domestic violence cases rely heavily on the alleged victim’s testimony.
Family Court Evidence Standards
Family courts are more relaxed about evidence. Hearsay is often admissible. Judges can consider allegations even if criminal charges were dismissed or you were acquitted.
Family court judges also consider the “totality of circumstances.” A pattern of behavior, even if no single incident was proven, can affect custody determinations.
How to Protect Your Parental Rights While Defending Criminal Charges
Essential Protection Strategies
- Hire experienced attorneys for both criminal defense and family law who can coordinate strategy
- Never discuss your case on social media or with anyone except your attorneys
- Document your relationship with your children
- Comply fully with any court orders, even ones you believe are unjust
- Participate in any recommended counseling to demonstrate commitment to being a good parent
Why Coordination Between Attorneys Matters
Domestic violence attorneys in Philadelphia and other major cities focus on avoiding conviction for their clients. Your family law attorney focuses on protecting custody. These goals can conflict without coordination.
For example, your criminal attorney might advise silence while your family attorney wants you to testify about being a good parent. Having attorneys who communicate ensures your overall interests are protected.
The Importance of Complying with Court Orders
Even if you believe a PFA order is unjust or custody restrictions are unfair, violating court orders is catastrophic. Violations give prosecutors additional charges and prove to family court judges that you don’t respect legal authority.
Compliance demonstrates respect for the process. Judges notice which parents follow orders and which ones don’t.
Five Steps to Take Immediately
If you’re dealing with domestic violence charges and custody issues simultaneously, take these steps:
- Hire a Criminal Justice Lawyer Immediately: Don’t wait. Everything you say can be used against you in both courts.
- Retain a Family Law Attorney: Family court moves quickly. Emergency custody orders can be issued before you realize proceedings have started.
- Stop All Contact with the Other Parent: Unless court-ordered custody exchanges require it, cease all communication. Use only documented methods for necessary exchanges.
- Document Everything: Keep records of all interactions with your children, compliance with court orders, and evidence that contradicts allegations.
- Begin Counseling Voluntarily: Starting anger management or parenting classes before being ordered to shows initiative. It can help in both courts.
The Long-Term Impact on Your Relationship with Your Children
Beyond immediate legal consequences, domestic violence allegations and custody battles affect your relationship with your children for years.
Children often learn about allegations through court proceedings or from the other parent. How you handle the situation impacts their perception of you. Fighting for your rights while remaining focused on their wellbeing demonstrates your priorities.
Even if you face temporary restrictions, maintaining whatever contact is allowed and consistently demonstrating responsible parenting creates a foundation for rebuilding full parental rights later.
When to Consider Settling vs. Fighting
Not every case should go to trial in both forums. Sometimes settlement makes sense in one or both proceedings.
In criminal court, if the evidence against you is strong, a negotiated plea might be necessary. The question becomes whether you can negotiate terms that minimize family court impact.
In family court, if the criminal charges are weak or likely to be dismissed, pushing for temporary custody arrangements that preserve your rights until criminal resolution might be strategic.
These decisions require careful analysis of the strength of evidence in both cases and the likely outcomes of trials.
Protecting Your Rights in Both Courts
The intersection of criminal domestic violence charges and child custody proceedings creates one of the most challenging legal situations parents can face. What happens in one court affects the other, and the strategies that protect you in one forum can hurt you in the other.
Success requires experienced legal representation that understands both criminal defense and family law, coordinated strategy across both proceedings, and careful attention to how every decision in one court impacts the other.
If you’re facing domestic violence charges while navigating custody issues, consult Brennan Law Offices. With decades of criminal defense experience, our attorneys understand how these cases intersect and can help you develop a defense strategy that protects both your freedom and your parental rights.
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5 Common Myths About Child Support
Child support is one of the many things that can complicate a divorce or separation. That is why many people end up hiring a defense attorney in Philadelphia for their case. There are several myths about child support that need to be debunked.
Myth: The Needs of the Children Determine How Much One Will Pay for Child Support
Fact: A child’s needs actually have little do with what the non-custodial parent will pay. The parent’s ability to pay and income are two of the main factors that will determine how much they will pay. The parent can also request a modification if they feel like they are paying too much for child support.
Myth: Child Support Payments Have to Go Towards the Child’s Needs
Fact: Ideally, this would be the case, but it doesn’t always happen. There is nothing that stipulates child support has to go towards the child. They also do not have to prove they used the child support check for the child.
Many people are frustrated because their ex-spouse or partner uses the money to live lavishly. However, they cannot get in trouble for this as long as their child’s basic needs are taken care of.
Myth: You Don’t Have to Pay Child Support if You Move Out of Town
Fact: Many people try to skip town to avoid child support, but local criminal lawyers do not recommend you do this. Every state has its own agency that will enforce child support. All of these agencies work together. That is why you will not be able to avoid paying child support.
Myth: If I Lose My Job, Then I Won’t Have to Pay Child Support
Fact: Your child support obligation does not go away just because you lose your job. You can request a modification and tell them you have lost your job. You may be able to get your payments lowered. Your living expenses will be taken into consideration.
Myth: If I Have a Child With Someone Else, Then My Payments Will Be Lowered
Fact: Having another child will not necessarily reduce how much you have to pay for child support. However, you can let the court know you have another child. You can also show them your ability to pay child support has been impacted by the birth of another child. You may be able to get your child support modified, but this is not a guarantee.
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What to Expect in Your First Year of Law School
Starting the journey to become a criminal justice lawyer can be exciting. You may find your first year in law school is difficult. The good news is there are ways you can make it easier if you know what to expect.
You Will Have to Take Foundational Classes
The specific classes you take as an upperclassman will depend on the area of law you want to go in. However, there are foundational classes every law student has to take during the first year. Civil procedure, contracts, tort, property law and constitutional law are some of the specific things you can expect to learn.
You Will Have a Busy Schedule
PA criminal defense lawyers will tell you the first year of law school was extremely business. They did not have much time to do anything else. There are many law schools that won’t give you much control over your schedule. There is also a lot of reading you will have to do outside of the classroom.
You Need to Get Involved in Activities Outside of the Classroom
It is important for you to be a well-rounded law student. That is why it is important for you to get involved in activities outside of the classroom. There may not be a lot of extracurricular activities for you to choose from. However, it is important for you to join as many as you can.
You Will Need Study Aids
Your books are not the only things you will need in order to learn. You will need study aids, such as case studies and outlines. You will likely get more out of your study aids than you would if you were to just use your books.
You Should Go to Your Professor During Their Office Hours
Professors love to engage with their students. That is why you should go visit them during office hours. You will get to know your professor. You can also go over things you may not have understood during class. Furthermore, if you have a good relationship with your professor, then it will be easier for you to get a letter of recommendation.
You Need to Study in Groups
You may be used to studying by yourself. However, many people find it is more beneficial to study in groups. It is important for you to select people who are doing well in the classroom.
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What Qualifies as Child Endangerment?
Watching children can be a hassle. They like to explore and get their hands on everything. Sometimes their adorable precocious nature gets them in trouble, other times they end up seriously injured. When that happens, you can be held accountable for child endangerment.
Pennsylvania Statutes
Endangering the Welfare of a Child, often called ‘EWOC’ for short, is the name for the criminal offense. The specific statutory language explains this in two ways. Under § 4304(a)(1) it means ‘A parent, guardian or other person supervising the welfare of a child under 18 years of age, or a person that employs or supervises such a person, commits an offense if he knowingly endangers the welfare of the child by violating a duty of care, protection or support’.
The second, falling under § 4304(a)(2) reads as ‘A person commits an offense if the person, in an official capacity, prevents or interferes with the making of a report of suspected child abuse under 23 Pa.C.S. Ch. 63 (relating to child protective services)’.
It goes on to state that “person supervising the welfare of a child” is defined as being ‘a person other than a parent or guardian that provides care, education, training or control of a child’. This means teachers, babysitters, or daycare providers can be charged with EWOC. Charges can be brought against parents for punishing their children, should the punishment result in physical or psychological harm; these charges are sometimes simply referred to as ‘child abuse’.
Determining Child Endangerment
Because the statute is so broad and vague your intentions don’t matter. Which is to say, ‘I didn’t mean to expose the child to the thing that hurt them’ isn’t a sufficient defense. Many believe that child endangerment is only deliberate acts of child endangerment. But it can also include things like failing to secure a car seat or leaving the child unsupervised in an area deemed unsafe (like a bathtub). EWOC can be thought of as either causing harm or failing to prevent harm.
Classification
In most cases, EWOC is treated as a first-degree misdemeanor. In the summer of 2017, Governor Tom Wolf passed a law stating that it will be considered a third-degree felony if the defendant’s actions create a significant risk of death or serious bodily harm. If there’s a pattern of conduct found then it is to be considered a second-degree felony. Additionally, the grading is increased one level for children under six. This law also advises judges to consider ordering counseling for anyone convicted of the charges.
Let’s Get Started
Are you facing charges of child endangerment? If so, contact Brennan Law Offices today. We practice criminal law exclusively, which is one of the many practices criminal lawyers Philadelphia has to offer. As domestic violence lawyers, we won’t rest until you receive the justice you deserve.
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