The California Family Code and law recognizes that false allegations of child abuse or domestic violence will not be tolerated in child custody cases. To protect innocent parties, there are statutes in California that can be used by those who are falsely accused. California Family Code 3011 states that the court must consider any history of abuse by any parent seeking custody and that abuse includes child abuse. False allegations of abuse made by either party can justify a change in custody and visitation. A change in custody is often the primary way to avoid additional false allegations in the future.
Supervised Visitation and False Allegation Cases
California law dictates that children are to have frequent and continued contact with both parents, except when there are allegations of abuse and the allegations are determined to be supported by strong evidence.
The court does have the discretion to order a parent who has knowingly made false allegations of sexual abuse of the child to have supervised visitation. The family court has to find that there was a knowingly false sexual abuse allegation. California Family Code 3027.5 lays out the requirements for that.
It is important to note that there is no law that limits supervised visitation to only false sexual abuse allegation cases. Supervised visitation may be appropriate in cases when there are other false allegations of other types of child abuse.
The simple fact is that a parent who is falsely accused will probably face the accusations again by the other parent. This is particularly true if the other parent thinks that they got away with it. In addition to the monetary sanctions a parent can seek against the other parent for the false allegations, they should seek primary physical custody or even sole legal custody of the children. Often seeking sole legal custody or seeking supervised visitation of the other parent is the best way to prevent further abuse allegations.
Parents who make false allegations of child abuse are causing emotional abuse. Each parent has the same duty to protect their children from harm. This includes protecting your children from a parent who falsely accuses you of abusing the children. When parents are accused of child abuse, they need to protect their right to child custody.
A parent who is falsely accused of child abuse must take immediate action in response to the accusations. It is best to seek the advice and guidance of an experienced family law attorney. Additionally, if there is any criminal law matters present in your child support case, you will also need to speak with a criminal law attorney.