Criminal charges in family law cases

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teezy

teezy

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I'm curious to know how criminal proceedings affect family law cases, if at all.

Case in point #1: My partner's oldest son recently got himself into some legal trouble. I have a strong suspician his ex-wife is going to throw it into the separation mess for her own benefit, as she's blaming my partner for it, even though we were away at work when it happened. He threw a party, made some poor decisions, and found himself with a collection of charges. My concern is that because she's blaming my partner, and because she's been pushing for a 60/40 custody arrangement of the youngest son, that she's going to try using this to support her argument.

Case in point #2: Relatives of mine are currently going through separation and the husband was charged with assault, but the case for that hasn't even gone to court yet and he hasn't been convicted of anything.

Can a criminal matter that's separate from family law issues, and not resolved, be brought into consideration for things like custody?
 
Case 1. The only way I can see this brought up in family court is if the father knew what was being planned by the son and did nothing. That might be considered negligent parenting. If the father had no idea what was going, it would be hard to prove he did anything wrong.

Case 2. Unless the relative that has been charged lives with you and is convicted, I don't know how it could be held against your partner.
 
DowntroddenDad said:
Case 2. Unless the relative that has been charged lives with you and is convicted, I don't know how it could be held against your partner.
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It has nothing to do with my partner. It's a separate issue. I should have clarified. The concern with that case is that the wife could use the husband's assault charge against him in the separation process... for custody, support, etc. But I think I answered my own question, because he'd have to be convicted of it first.

Thanks for the response!
 
teezy said:
It has nothing to do with my partner. It's a separate issue. I should have clarified. The concern with that case is that the wife could use the husband's assault charge against him in the separation process... for custody, support, etc. But I think I answered my own question, because he'd have to be convicted of it first.

Thanks for the response!
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This will totally be used against him, even if he was never convicted or hasn't been convicted.
I've even heard of parties using is after the person is found not guilty.
They claim that crimal is about "without reasonable doute" where family is more civil, "balance of probablities" ie 51% chance.

Tell them to look out.
 
involveddad75 said:
This will totally be used against him, even if he was never convicted or hasn't been convicted.
I've even heard of parties using is after the person is found not guilty.
They claim that crimal is about "without reasonable doute" where family is more civil, "balance of probablities" ie 51% chance.

Tell them to look out.
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Seriously? That's not good. I was speaking to the husband on the phone today. It's their case conference today. I hope to god they settle, as they have virtually no assets to argue about it, and I don't think she qualifies for support anyway because he's retired and living off an old age pension, and she has her own business. He did, however, get a faxed copy of an assault charge that she had from 15 years ago... against a cop, of all people. So he might make out ok because of that, especially if he doesn't end up being convicted.
 
id75 is right. The criminal court may find him not guilty but family judge may find him guilty and it can have effect on child custody. Judge Brownstone talks about this in more details in his book.
 
teezy said:
Seriously? That's not good. I was speaking to the husband on the phone today. It's their case conference today. I hope to god they settle, as they have virtually no assets to argue about it, and I don't think she qualifies for support anyway because he's retired and living off an old age pension, and she has her own business. He did, however, get a faxed copy of an assault charge that she had from 15 years ago... against a cop, of all people. So he might make out ok because of that, especially if he doesn't end up being convicted.
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The other party having an assault charge from 15 yrs ago does not discount the husbands assault.If that were the case the police would be writing off gangs wars.(That two up for the Crypts ....ok we cant charge them because the Bloods have had two charges for assault too).

If anything.. waving that around as some kind of justification for assault makes things worse for the husband.The police know about the assault by the wife,the police know about the present day assault of the husband ,the judge will be informed of both parties histories of violence.Has the wife other criminal convictions ?Does the husband?Has there been reported incidents that did not lead to charges?If this is the husbands first reported assault and he does not have a history of violence he may just get court ordered anger management classes.If he is really lucky he may just get a peace bond and no record if he behaves.There is alot of "what ifs" depending on the judge.
 
Several people have given me this advice.
In ontario never ever sign a peace bond if and when you are going through family court. Judges in family court always err on the side of caution.
If you didn't do it and it is a false aligation then don't sign a peace bond.
 
It's not a justification, but I suppose an attempt to show a pattern of behaviour. That's how he explained it to me, but I see your point. No previous criminal records for either one of them, although the cops have been dispatched to their home a number of times years ago (80s) over screaming matches. There's never been physical violence between them until this. The only incident with the wife that I'm aware of is that incident with the cop, which happened in the USA.

What a mess.

And thanks involveddad75... I'll ask him about that next time I speak to him and advise him.
 
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