questions & answers

Question: I am having a child with a 16 year old (I was 17 when I found out I was pregnant) and I just turned 18 less than a month ago. He has been living with me for 3 to 4 months and his father has made him move to Apache junction with the new girlfriend of his. His father has child abuse charges on him and had his daughter taken away for this. We were wondering if he could move with me and my family. He loves it with us and with his father he gets verbal as well as mental abuse I want to know if there is anything I can do to get him out of there and keep him safe.

Answer: When one parent is deemed to be a threat to a child because of mental and physical abuse, typically the courts will look to see if the other parent is fit to have custody of the child. If that is not an option, the court may explore other possibilities of custody under the Best Interest of the Child standard, which can be determined in A.R.S. section 25-403 (http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/25/00403.htm&Title=25&DocType=ARS). If a child is older and more mature, the court will likely take into account the child’s preference on who receives legal custody. If a parent is known to abuse a child mentally or physically, Child Protective Services should be contacted (http://www.azleg.gov/ars/13/03620.htm). Their contact information can be found here: 1-800-767-244 or https://www.azdes.gov/child_protective_services/.