Domestic violence allegations during an ongoing divorce can get you thrown out of your home, separated from your children, and even put in jail if you make one wrong move. Here are the most common ways these types of allegations can complicate divorce proceedings and blow up a divorce case.

What is Domestic Violence?

“Domestic violence” is an umbrella term comprising any action or inaction that harms an intimate partner or cohabitant physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, or sexually. Commonly known as intimate partner violence, domestic violence could also be directed at former spouses and intimate partners, children, parents, seniors, and even roommates (roommates are considered cohabitants as well.)

Domestic violence can take many forms from verbal abuse and gaslighting to physical punishments, beatings, and rape. In extreme cases, domestic violence can end up in the death of the victim or a close family member.

Many divorces are spurred by domestic violence while others are just accompanied by domestic violence allegations. Domestic violence is a crime, and during divorce proceedings, it can appear as:

• A new allegation (no authorities involved.) One of the spouses accuses the other spouse of domestic violence during the divorce but authorities have not been involved and no charges have been pressed.
• New allegation (authorities are involved.) A police report has been filed but no charges have been pressed, charges have been dropped, or the alleged abuser has been acquitted.
• Pending criminal case. Charges have been filed but the investigation is ongoing at the time of the divorce.
• Domestic violence conviction. One of the spouses has been convicted of spousal violence.

Unfortunately, not all domestic violence allegations have grounds, especially during a pending divorce. Some spouses can sink as low as to accuse the other spouses of domestic violence to turn children against them, get full custody, achieve the desired property division, and/ or obtain substantial spousal support.

When that happens, the only way out for the spouse who has been wrongfully accused is to hire a skilled criminal defense attorney with plenty of experience in handling such cases and turning the tide in their clients’ favor.

How Domestic Violence Allegations May Complicate Divorce Proceedings

Domestic violence allegations can complicate an ongoing divorce in more than one way. For instance, if your spouse has obtained a temporary restraining order against you, also known as a no-contact order or a protection order, you could get arrested and spend up to one year in jail if you get too close to your shared home, spouse, or children.

Also, if you are barred from seeing your children, your spouse may argue in the family court that since the children have been with them 24/7 for some time, you are visiting them or having a shared custody agreement would not benefit the children.

In such cases, courts make decisions “in the best interests of the child.” Most courts will take into account a history of spousal abuse when making a custody decision. Your custody rights might be severely limited or even terminated. Domestic violence allegations may even help the other spouse gain full custody of children.

However, such allegations can influence the financial outcomes of a pending divorce as well. Even though most judges don’t award higher spousal support (alimony) just to punish the abusive spouse, in some states, the abusive partner is barred from receiving alimony.

Especially if there is a domestic violence conviction, your spouse’s attorney may use that information to pressure you into accepting less favorable divorce terms for fear of losing child custody or child visitation rights.

What is more, if the domestic violence victim can prove that the abusive partner has prevented them from reaching financial independence or inflicted them with other financial losses, the court may distribute the shared assets unevenly.

Domestic violence allegations, even if false, can easily get judges biased against the accused spouses prompting them to unfairly beef up child support payments or spousal support.

To Wrap It Up

Domestic violence allegations, even when there’s no evidence to back them up, can severely undermine your divorce case. As a wise man once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” So, even if charges are dropped or never filed, you risk losing critical child custody and property rights while ending up saddled with overburdening support payments you are not even supposed to make.

That is why, if domestic violence gets thrown around a lot during divorce proceedings, consider hiring a seasoned criminal defense attorney like one of the professionals working at the Law Offices of Randall B. Isenberg. A skilled attorney can keep your case from going to court, shed new light on your case with fresh evidence, negotiate resolutions on your behalf, and file an appeal, if necessary, all the while your divorce takes its course.

Author:

With a law degree under his belt and years of experience, Mark Scott set off to make the law more accessible to all. He decided to help people lost in the maze of legal terminology to find their way. Mark writes clear and concise pieces and gives simple advice that is easy to follow. On account of positive feedback from readers, he decided to dedicate more of his time to this goal and became a legal columnist. In his writings, Mark covers a wide array of topics, like how to seek legal counsel, or how to deal with different procedures. Furthermore, he directs his readers toward other trustworthy resources for more in-depth information.