Key Takeaways:
- When determining custody, the courts prioritize the child’s best interests above all other concerns.
- Mental illness doesn’t disqualify a parent, but the severity can influence the decision.
- If the illness necessitates frequent hospital visits, in-home care, or if the individual is prone to outbursts or violence, it plays a role.
- If medication, therapy, and other measures keep symptoms in check, a judge is less likely to deny custody.
- Mild mental illness, like moderate depression or anxiety, may not influence the proceedings at all.
Mental illness affects many people. It often has a devastating influence on relationships and marriages. Not only does it frequently lead to divorce, but if a parent has a mental illness, it also impacts child custody cases in significant ways.
How Mental Illness Can Impact Child Custody
Cases involving a parent with a mental illness are notoriously tricky. This umbrella term covers depression, anxiety, addiction, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and many other conditions.
Because of the nature of the beast, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It depends on the severity of the affliction, treatment options, the willingness of the parties involved to seek treatment, and many additional factors.
Related Reading: How Is Custody Decided In Oregon?
How Can A Mental Illness Impact Your Custody Claim?
Because the child’s best interests remain paramount, they inform how the court divides the legal and physical parenting responsibilities.
- If a mother is unable to maintain a stable living situation of her own due to mental health issues, a judge isn’t likely to grant her physical custody.
- If a father has trouble making good decisions in his own life because of mental illness, that doesn’t bode well for making decisions for his children.
Legal custody claims may take a hit in this scenario. When one parent has a documented history of mental illness-related violence or other behaviors that may potentially harm a child, courts also weigh those factors.
Can You Lose Custody If You Have A Mental Illness?
When determining custody, regardless of the factors involved, including a parent having a mental illness, the courts put the best interests of the child ahead of all other concerns. This includes physical and emotional safety.
If it’s unsafe or harmful for a child to be with one parent, that’s the most substantial way mental illness impacts child custody.
Mental illness doesn’t disqualify a parent
It will, however, likely influence the decision. If it negatively affects a parent’s ability to parent or the parent-child relationship, the court considers it when determining parenting time.
Impact on child custody depends on the severity
A particular disorder may require frequent hospitalization, make a parent prone to violent outbursts, or necessitate in-home care. All of these factors may sway a case in favor of the other parent.
With a manageable condition, the impact is often less severe
If medication, therapy, and other measures adequately keep symptoms in check, a judge is less likely to deny custody. Mild mental illness, like moderate depression or anxiety, may not influence the proceedings at all.
The court wants to keep both parents in a child’s life
But again, it really boils down to the child’s best interests and how much mental illness impacts child custody. Though it may not bar a parent from being awarded custody, it may affect the type of custody awarded.
Related Reading: Custody: What is the ‘Best Interest of the Child’?
While mental illness impacts child custody in some cases, it may not dramatically bend a ruling. It all goes back to the severity of an affliction and if the court, usually with the input of mental health professionals, determines it’s safe for the child or not.
Relatively minor cases, or a condition that’s well controlled with medication or therapy, likely won’t tip the scale as much.
Depending on the circumstances, the court may award parenting time to a parent dealing with mental issues. These may be small blocks of visitation that require supervision. The amount may hinge on the parent adhering to a mental health plan, maintaining a stable home, or other requirements.
Related Reading: Writ Of Assistance, Divorce, and Child Custody
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