• 15
  • August
    2011

Parents in Denver who are trying to obtain child custody can easily be forgiven if they are confused by the process. There is so much to keep track of it can be difficult to know what is going on.

A story that illustrates the strangeness of some child custody cases arises out of Oregon. There, a woman had her request for a child custody modification denied even though her ex- husband has re-married his first wife - a woman who killed her own two daughters years ago.

More than a decade ago, the husband's first wife killed their two daughters, who were 4 and 8 years old at the time. The first wife said she was driven to murder by a reaction to the antidepressant Prozac. She was institutionalized for four years and participated in psychiatric monitoring for almost 10 years before she was unconditionally released in 2005.

While his first wife was undergoing treatment, the husband married his second wife, with whom he had two sons, who are now 13 and 14 years old. The two separated and the wife had custody of one son during the school year while the father had custody of the other during the same timeframe. The sons split holidays and vacations between the two parents.

In 2007, the second wife learned that her ex-husband was once again living with his first wife. Fearing for her child's safety, she sought a permanent child custody modification order, but a commissioner denied her request. His reasoning was that the sons had been spending significant amounts of time with the first wife since 2008, even if their mother was not aware of it, and there had been no problems so far. Therefore, there was no need to modify the existing custody arrangement.

It is probably safe to say the boys' mother is not happy that her children are spending time with a woman who killed her own children. Most child custody orders do not end with such an unusual result, but just to be on the safe side, many parents seek the help of a family law attorney in this sort of matter. These attorneys are familiar with child custody situations and can help you advocate for your interests.

Source: The ABA Journal, "Mom Loses Custody Battle with Ex, Who Is Married to a Child Killer," Debra Cassens Weiss, Aug. 1, 2011.