The court urges parties involved to settle their differences during divorce cases. It is crucial for parties going through a divorce to come in with an open mind and be willing to negotiate and compromise. However, the court is aware that there are specific circumstances where a court intervention may be necessary. An example of this may be domestic violence against a spouse or children. Domestic violence can take various forms, whether it be physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or even financial abuse. Working with an experienced divorce attorney can help you understand how this can impact your case.

Custody and Visitation

Domestic violence will impact custody and visitation significantly. As always, the judge will consider the child’s best interest when deciding on visitation and custody matters. The court believes there should be cooperation and involvement between parents when deciding what is best for the child. There is little chance that a court will deny parental visitation for a child; if it comes to it, the visitation may be supervised or occur in the home of an adult the child trusts. However, if the court believes that a child may be endangered by allowing this, then the court will likely deny unsupervised visitation. If you are being accused of domestic violence, knowing what that means for yourself and the child involved is crucial.

Order of Protection

If you have experienced abuse from a spouse or have seen abuse or harassment committed against your children or other family members, it may be in your best interest to file an order of protection. This will force the abuser to stay away from those they have abused. To file this, you must be able and willing to share evidence to back up your claims of domestic violence during a divorce case. Some examples of evidence include; text messages, emails, photos, police reports, and medical records. A parent or adult you trust can file this on your behalf if you are a minor.

In the United States, one in three women and one in seven men are victims of domestic violence. Due to fear, embarrassment, or shame, domestic violence incidents are underreported, so the actual statistics are probably higher. The abused, of course, have nothing to be ashamed of as they hold no culpability for the perpetrator's behavior. 

Domestic violence does not discriminate and affects all races, creeds, sexual orientations, and educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. A domestic violence attorney can help victims obtain orders of protection to help safeguard them from abusers.

Domestic violence devastates families and is detrimental to society. It comprises physical violence and many other forms of abuse.