By: LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ. 

The custody battle between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline has taken another sad turn lately.  The court recently awarded K-Fed temporary sole physical custody of the couple’s two children, 2-year old Sean Preston and 1-year old Jayden James.  Britney is only allowed supervised visitation with her kids every other day.  Why did Britney loose her kids?  Courts usually have good reasons for making custody rulings that are as harsh as those in the Spears-Federline case.  However, we can’t ignore that there is a whole host of inflammatory stuff out there about poor Brit that may or may not have played into the rulings.  She’s been caught without wearing underwear, driving without a license, and she can’t seem to get a break from the criticism over her VMA Awards Show performance.  Aside from Britney’s bad behavior and career moves, though, it seems the main reason Britney lost her kids comes around one way or another to allegations of Britney’s “habitual and continual” use of drugs and alcohol. 

In most jurisdictions (including California where Britney and K-Fed are fighting it out), custody is determined according to the “best interests of the children” standard.  What does that mean? In determining what’s in a child’s best interest, a court may consider a wide variety of factors relevant to the health, safety and welfare of the children… including allegations of a parent’s drug or alcohol abuse.  That’s fine when allegations are actually true – kids need healthy parents.  However, it seems all too often that bitter, fighting parents make all kinds of accusations against each other as a strategy to win custody cases.  Unfortunately, alleging the abuse of drugs or alcohol has become a powerful tool in the custody battle toolbox. 

To protect a parent from false allegations of drug and alcohol abuse, most states require those kinds of allegations to be corroborated before they can be used in court to determine custody.  That said, corroboration can come in a variety of forms – and once those kinds of allegations are made, Pandora’s Box has been opened and damaging judgments have usually already been made about the accused’s parenting abilities… regardless of whether the allegations are true or not.  At that point, it seems the game has become more about the best interests of the parents rather than the best interests of the children. 

So, other than when a parent actually has a drug/alcohol problem, what would motivate a parent to make such allegations?  There are many emotional and psychological reasons why a parent would throw the other one under the bus during divorce and custody litigation.  Fear… Power….. Vindication…. Control….Overwhelm…. and, yes….Money.  In most states, a formula is used for determining the amount of financial child support.  More custody usually translates into more child support.  For example, in Britney and K-Fed’s case everyone knows there is a lot of cash at stake.  Some reports indicate Kevin could get upwards of one-million dollars in annual child support if he wins permanent custody. It’s a very troubling thought, but it appears sometimes battling parents might be accusing each other of a variety of wrongs, such as drug and alcohol abuse, NOT to protect their children’s best interests, but to protect their own best interests. 

Undoubtedly, most of us know people struggling with divorce and custody matters.  In almost all of the cases I know personally, one or both parents are either threatening to accuse the other of drug/alcohol abuse or have already made such allegations.  In some of those families, it is a real issue.  In others, unfortunately, the allegations seem exaggerated, inflated, skewed, or even fabricated.   In all cases, though, it seems parents going through divorce and custody litigation are genuinely very sad and struggling with what has to be one of the most difficult times in one’s life. 

For these reasons and others, I believe it is so important to seek qualified legal counsel when facing divorce and custody matters.  Hopefully you can find an attorney who will help you work out a custody plan with your ex as amicably as possible.  If you or someone you know is going through divorce or custody matters, consider what’s really in the child’s best interest … and then go be the person who strives to achieve it.  Find some way to reconnect to something good about the other parent so you can be free of the emotional and psychological demons that might otherwise plague you in the process of divorce and custody proceedings.  Work out a custody arrangement that not only works for you and for your co-parent, but one that is truly in the best interests of your kids. 

For more information about family law you can click here:  http://www.lawinfo.com.