Divorce, the Family Advocate and the minor child
The court, being the upper guardian of the minor child, must in all situations place the interests of the minor child first and foremost.
The court will in fact not grant a final order of divorce if it is not sure that the interests of the minor child are properly protected. If the court sees allegations of drug and/or alcohol abuse or any other form of abuse they should require the family advocate to do a thorough investigation.
Recently in the newspapers and magazines in South Africa there was a report on a three year old boy who had been gunned down brutally by his father, who was upset about a divorce summons which had been served on him by his wife. In that specific situation the matter had been referred to the family advocate and an alcohol test had been done on the man which proved to have been negative. The mother of the deceased child suspects that the child’s father’s attorney had advised and warned him about the test.
When instituting a divorce action or defending one, one must make it very clear to your attorney if your spouse has threatened you and/or your children in any way and if there is any history of drug and/or alcohol abuse, as there is legislature in place to prevent the tragedy that recently took place. One should also listen closely to your child to detect whether there is any form of abuse. If the parties are separated in a divorce for example and a child comes home with bruises on his/her body, or keeps saying things that indicate that he/she was abused, contact to the minor child should not be given to the other party until a thorough family advocate investigation has been made.
It is never a minor child’s fault when his/her parents are getting divorced. The minor child is in fact of primary concern in a divorce matter, and care and contact of a minor child should in fact be supervised if there is any form of abuse.
This article was written by Peter Baker, a divorce lawyer in Cape Town - South Africa