Part of our custody disagreement is my ex-wife’s new husband had a felony 10 years ago, for evading and weapon possession. Just last year with his ex-wife, he had domestic assault with bodily injury. My kids are not coming home frightened because items are getting broken and they are screaming and yelling in front of the kids. He has a pretty extensive background from 1997-2001, then again in 2010 will a judge look past this? She knew nothing about it, she constantly has the kids around strange men, including a sex offender. They met online and met face to face 6 months later when he was moving in.
She is seeking full custody after 5 years of very limited involvement and unpaid child support.

ANSWER

Judges will consider the environment and household of the parents when determining how often and when the children spend time with the non-custodial parent. It sounds like you are seeking a modification/reduction in your ex wife’s time with the children. Or, maybe you are askign the Court to change custody over to you.

Since Courts want to include the non-custodial parent as much as possible, if you are asking a Judge to take away time you need to have good reason and that reason has to be a material change of circumstances that has happened since the last Court Order. If the children are scared of her new husband it is important to try to fix this. Counseling for the children and discussion with your ex-wife may help. If the children are in danger are truly in danger than you can seek assistance from police, child protective services, school counselors, and/or child’s therapist. From your description it is difficult to determine whether the new husband is just a real jerk or whether he presents a real threat to the kids. Talking with a lawyer will also help you determine the risk.