Custody

The law says the judge is supposed to assume it is not in the child’s best interest for a parent to get custody if the parent:

1. is a registered sex offender or lives with one;
2. has been convicted of a crime involving child abuse or lives with someone who has;
3. is dependent on alcohol or drugs and can be expected in the near future to seriously harm or attempt to harm himself/herself or another person as a result of such dependency; or
4. has been convicted of domestic abuse within the past five years or lives with someone who has.¹

However, even if a parent meets one of these above criteria, the parent can still try to offer evidence to change the judge’s mind and get custody rights.¹ 

If you are looking to get the other parent’s rights terminated, you can file a petition to terminate parental rights if the other parent was convicted in criminal court of any of the following:

• rape;
• rape by instrumentation; 
• permitting a child to participate in pornography;
• lewd molestation of a child under sixteen years of age;
• child abuse or neglect;
• enabling child abuse or neglect;
• causing the death of a child as a result of the physical or sexual abuse or chronic abuse or chronic neglect of the child;
• murder of any child or aiding, abetting, attempting, conspiring, or soliciting to commit murder of any child;
• voluntary manslaughter of any child;
• a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parents; or
• murder or voluntary manslaughter of the child’s parent or aiding or abetting, attempting, conspiring, or soliciting to commit murder of the child’s parent.²

Note: Custody or visitation is not supposed to be granted to a parent if you can prove that it will likely expose the child to a probable (foreseeable)risk of serious harm.³

If an abusive parent is seeking visitation or custody, we strongly suggest that you get help from a lawyer who has experience with domestic violence issues and custody. To find an attorney in your area, see our Oklahoma Finding a Lawyer page.

¹ 43 O.S. § 112.2(B)
² 10A O.S. § 1-4-904(8)(b)
³ 43 O.S. § 112.2(C)