Divorce is already among the most stressful experiences in the life of a person. It is a struggle of money, property and worst of all, time with your children. In the stakes-high family courts of Fulton, Cobb, and DeKalb counties, opposing counsel are ever in search of advantage, something that will give them a one-up on their customer.
When you are caught on a DUI when a divorce or a change of custody is in the offing, you have not merely struck a traffic offense. You have given your former spouse a loaded gun.
The cutthroat nature of Atlanta family law means that a DUI arrest is scarcely a misdemeanor. Rather it is painted as evidence of instability, drug addiction and a threat to your children directly. A single night of misstep will change the way you relate with your children in years without an aggressive defense strategy.
It is the situation when the realm of criminal law and family law intersect catastrophically. In order to survive it, you must have the urgent help of a skilled Atlanta DUI Attorney who does not only know the traffic court, but also the crippling repercussions a conviction may have on your parent-child rights.
The Best Interests of the Child.
The custody is decided by the family court judges in Georgia in regards to the best interests of the child. This criterion is high and it provides judges with so much discretion. In case of a DUI by a parent, the opposing attorney will instantly claim that the parent has a substance abuse issue which exposes the child.
To make this argument, they do not require a conviction. All they need to do is to file an emergency motion which suspends your rights to visitation, is the arrest report alone, usually full of subjective observation as to whether the speech is slurred, whether walking is unsteady, etc.
The Guardian ad Litem’s Radar
The court appoints a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) in most of the disputed Atlanta custody cases. GAL is an attorney who defends the interests of the child and he/she is the eyes and ears of the judge.
The issue of DUI arrest is a red flag that instantly draws the attention of the GAL to you. They can initiate an invasive inquiry into your lifestyle, questioning your friends, neighbours and even children on the drinking habits. Unless you are represented by a DUI Attorney Atlanta experts who are adept at working on the criminal front, you might be left powerless to such character attacks in the family court.
The Nightmare of Supervised Visitations.
The most embarrassing and urgent implication of a DUI when there is a divorce is the order of supervised visitation.
In case the court suspects that you are a dangerous person, they can do it by stating that you cannot be alone with your own children. Rather, you will only have a limited time at the sterile visitation facility once or twice a week of a couple of hours, or under the supervision of a paid social worker, or worst of all, your mother in-law.
The court can also provide costly and intrusive monitoring measures e.g.:
Soberlink: This is a breathalyser that is a handheld device that requires your face to be scanned to notify your ex-spouse of your current BAC during the time you are with your children.
SCRAM Bracelets: This is a bracelet that is able to detect alcohol consumption by analyzing your sweat 24/7.
Hair Follicle Testing: This is a drug test which has the ability to identify drug use months ago.
It is important that there is Strategic Defense.
When you are going through a divorce and a DUI at the same time, you cannot afford to wait and see what will happen in the court on the road. A plea which appears good at the criminal court (such as 12 months of probation) may be a disaster in the family court since it appears as though there is confession of having a substance abuse issue.
You must have a course that will safeguard you on both ends.
An experienced Atlanta DUI Lawyer would be able to cooperate with your divorce lawyer to lessen the blow. This may include becoming a participant in a treatment program voluntarily prior to the judge doing so, refusing the breathalyzer test to call the impairment into question, or brokering a deal in which it is not required to plead guilty to DUI (e.g. to plead to reckless driving).
Protect Your Role as a Parent
Children are everything to you. Allow yourself not to take a DUI arrest as a measure of your parental fitness. The opposing attorney will attempt to make you appear as dangerous; it is the duty of your defense team to show that it was a one time thing not a way of life.
When you are confronted by a criminal case and a divorce at the same time, time is not your friend. Call the Atlanta DUI Lawyer makes an immediate call to hush the charges and save your families.
