Divorcing Someone with Addiction Problems

 Posted on December 19, 2018 in Divorce

Your spouse’s addiction can take a toll on your marriage and eventually lead to divorce. You may feel guilty about leaving your spouse when he or she needs help, but your own health and safety are also important. You spouse may:

• Betray your trust in order to feed his or her addiction;
• Squander your money to pay for the addiction;
• Be less physically or emotionally intimate with you; 
• Behave erratically or violently; or
• Put you and your children in dangerous situations.

Your spouse’s addiction will affect how you settle your divorce and what your spouse is likely to receive from the agreement.

Parental Rights

Your spouse may have a limited allocation of parental responsibilities if he or she is still dealing with addiction. A divorce court must consider each parent’s fitness when dividing parenting time. A person with addiction problems may be an unfit parent because he or she may:

• Be unattentive to the children’s needs;
• Be physically or emotionally abusive to the children; or
• Expose the children to a dangerous and unhealthy environment.

A court can prohibit an addicted parent from seeing his or her children or limit their interaction to supervised visits. In order to receive greater parental rights, your spouse will need to prove that he or she is not a danger to your children and is capable of putting their needs ahead of his or her own.

Assets

Your spouse may have paid for his or her addiction by using your marital income or going into marital debt. You must protect yourself from your spouse’s irresponsible financial behavior. Create separate financial accounts that your spouse cannot access. Seek court assistance in freezing your marital assets so that they are not depleted. Try to separate yourself from debts that your spouse may incur in the future.

Support

Your spouse may qualify for spousal maintenance payments if he or she is financially dependent upon you. People with addictions can struggle to stay employed or maintain a budget. However, you do not want your maintenance to be paying for your spouse’s addiction. A court can set conditions on maintenance, such as:

• You will pay the maintenance directly to those responsible for your spouse’s housing and utilities; or
• The maintenance will be dependent upon your spouse seeking addiction treatment and showing that he or she is trying to recover.

Contact a St. Charles Divorce Attorney

You should expect that a spouse dealing with addiction may behave irrationally during your divorce. A Kane County divorce attorney at Goostree Law Group can protect you during a difficult divorce process. To schedule a free consultation, call 630-584-4800.

Source:

https://beginningstreatment.com/when-should-i-divorce-my-addicted-spouse/