Please help me, in need of advice, I would like to get a divorce from my wife and obtain full custody of our son. My wife is an abusive alcoholic and is drunk every single night. She frequently gets violent and aggressive if I ever raise the question of her drinking problem. She is already been arrested for domestic abuse, but I dropped everything so she would not lose her license to teach. I wish to obtain full legal and physical custody of our son, before she ends up doing something that will harm or kill him. She is already nearly burnt down our home on numerous occasions, I found her passed out while cooking food in the kitchen. I have even come home to find her drinking in the kitchen, while our two-year-old was in the bathtub all by himself. She is also been intoxicated and has physically assaulted me while I’m driving, with our child in the back seat on multiple occasions. I’ve also found glasses full of alcohol, hidden in my child’s bedroom in close proximity to where he could easily reach it. I really want a divorce, but I’m scared that the mother will get custody, because she’s the mother and this is Massachusetts. What are my options?
ANSWER
With the situation such as yours, just like any other matter in Family Court, it will be about what you can prove. The circumstances that you have discussed in your question, would certainly be taken into consideration and afford you an extremely strong argument why you should have full physical and legal custody of your child. In Massachusetts custody both physical and legal are not automatically given to the mother, although most people feel that way. The truth of the matter is that the courts will take into consideration what is the best situation for the child and what will benefit the child the most. Your situation, it is obvious that the mother is an unfit parent and should not be left alone with a child. I feel you have a very strong case and would certainly take on your matter. As far as the divorce, you really don’t have to give a reason any longer why you want to get divorced, the state makes it actually very easy. We could list the abuse and alcoholism as the reason for the divorce, but even if you no longer wanted to be married they still allow you to get divorced. I certainly would employ the services of an experienced divorce attorney to handle a case such as this, since you do want to take away custody from the biological mother. This is not a case that would be an easy win, but certainly one that I feel is winnable.
Joseph F. Botelho, Esq.
BOTELHO LAW GROUP
Attorneys At Law
901 Eastern Ave.
Unit 2
Fall River, MA 02723
Office: 888-269-0688
Email: jbotelho@botelholawgroup.com