Child Custody And Mental Illness In Washington State

While it is often a subject that goes unmentioned or even hidden, mental illness can become a significant factor in determining child custody and visitation schedules in Washington State divorces. For example, divorce lawyers and child custody lawyers may hear the following types of questions:

• If I have been diagnosed with a mental illness, could I lose child custody rights or become unable to see my children?
• Can my ex-spouse use my mental health history against me to gain child custody?
• If I suffer from a common mental illness, such as depression, will my child custody case be affected?
• Should I stop taking medicine or stop seeing my therapist to hide my mental illness?
• If my spouse suffers from mental issues, should I bring that up during our child custody case?

What Does Your Child Want?

In Washington State, judges will always do what is in the best interests of your child. If you or your spouse suffers from a serious mental illness that could affect the treatment or safety of your child, that could certainly become a factor in what a judge decides and how your parenting plan looks at the end of the day. Common and mild mental issues, such as anxiety or depression, may not play a large role in child custody decisions. However, other more serious and chronic mental illnesses, such as major depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, may make a significant difference in who will have legal and physical custody of your children.

Before a court takes mental illness into account, though, there must be satisfactory evidence that the spouse suffers from the illness and that the illness will have a negative effect on the children.

Take Care of Yourself

If you suffer from a serious mental illness and are worried about whether or not you will receive custody of your children or be granted visitation rights, be sure to seek medical care for your condition and take care of yourself first. Never try to hide your disorder, but rather treat it diligently. If you want to learn more about your child custody case, talk to a Washington State child custody lawyer about your situation. Simply call (206) 381-0100 or fill out our online form for answers to your questions.