Child Custody and Alcoholic Husband

[ThankYou1]

Hi there,

I am currently "putting my ducks in order" and preparing to leave my husband. He is a chronic alcoholic and he uses drugs. He drinks 5-6 times per week however you will never find a bottle of beer in our house or monetary trail as he hides the beer in the garage and he always pays cash. But there is no doubt he is completely drunk. He starts drinking before I even get home from work, even though he has the kids. If I have to work late, he will drink as well and I will find him either passed out in our bed or in our son's bed. Our children are 5 and 3. He has never sought help and never will. So now I am at the point where I don't want to be around this nor raise my children in this environment. My problem is that I can go to court and say that he is an alchoholic but I have no proof. In my situation, what can I do to ensure he will not try to get custody or weekend visitations? If I have things documented, is this enough proof? If I contact the daycare/after school program (YMCA) and tell them he is no longer allowed to pick them up and tell them why, can this be used as proof? If I were to speak to my employer and have them reduce my hours (so that I can pick up the kids in time) and have this documented, is this enough proof of my accusations? What else can I do? I heard of a hair test that the courts can order that will show the degredation of the liver and will show on average how much a person has drunk in a year - is this true? Can this test be ordered? Cause that will 100% prove my accusations. And no, I don't have the money to hire a PI to follow him to the Beer Store every night, so that is not an option. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[PaulSlan]

The sole criteria for the determination of custody is the children's best interests. With respect to evidence, the best evidence is the objective evidence of an independent third party. That evidence should be based on observations of your husband or on what your husband has said to them. Evidence of what you may have said to a third party is not really helpful. Observations by doctors, teachers, neighbours, co-workers etc is what you really need. If it comes down your word against his, the judge will have to determine which one of you is more credible.

I am not familiar with testing for alcohol, other than a breathalyzer.