Joint custody of children may be refused if parents do not get on well, says Sevilla judge
Thursday, December 25, 2014 @ 11:17 AM
SHARED custody of children can be denied by the courts in the event of ‘conflict’ between parents, according to a recent verdict in the province of Sevilla.
Upheld by the Supreme Court following an appeal by the father, a judge in the town of Dos Hermanas said that where there is ‘no mutual respect’ between a child’s parents, joint custody arrangements would be ‘harmful’ to his or her upbringing and development.
A mother decided to fight her husband’s request for shared custody when they were in the process of getting divorced, saying she was not happy with the fact her son had to be dropped off at and picked up from his father’s parents rather than the father’s own home.
She also reported screening and blocking calls from her ex-husband to their son because of the father’s having become ‘verbally aggressive’ with her on the phone several times.
Her husband had filed for divorce in 2009, two years after they got married, and whilst she was pregnant with their son.
The judge decided the case in favour of the mother, saying joint custody should ‘always be based upon the child’s interests’.
Although this is the first time the Supreme Court has denied shared custody based upon the parents’ relationship with each other, the judge said this verdict was ‘not an exceptional measure’ but should be considered the norm.
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