If you are a habitual smoker, it can in fact affect your ability to gain custody of your kids. This is because smoking is considered to be damaging to a child's health. In all child custody cases, the courts are primarily concerned with whatever is in the "child's best interests."
This means that if a certain home environment could affect the children's health negatively, the courts aren't interested in using that party as a primary custodian. Instead, they will choose a parent that does not have destructive or dangerous habits. In addition to cigarette smoking, alcoholism and drug use are major concerns when deciding child custody.
According to DivorceSource, secondhand smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and is concerned a Class A carcinogen. ETS contains more than 40 harmful substances which are known to cause cancer or to be strong irritants to human tissues and organs. Children that are exposed to passive smoking often suffer reduced pulmonary functioning and may have smaller lungs as breathing in the air can hinder the growth of these organs.
Due to reduced lung growth, children who grow up inhaling ETS are more likely to have pulmonary health problems as adults. Research shows that in families where both parents smoke, the children have significantly more respiratory infections including lower respiratory infections.
These children have a higher likelihood of developing bronchitis and pneumonia, which can be fatal in severe cases and often require hospitalization. Studies reveal that children are more likely to be hospitalized during the first two years of their life for a serious lung problem in a home where they are inhaling secondhand smoke.
Other problems resulting from ETS inhalation include:
- Headaches
- Sore throat
- Nausea
- Eye irritation
- Excess phlegm
- Dizziness
- Stuffy nose
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of energy
- Fussiness
- Coughing and sneezing
- Wheezing
As well, children who live in a home where they are exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher probability of developing asthma. Children that already have asthma may see a frequency in the number of asthma attacks due to ETS. Also, the attacks may be more severe. Adults who were exposed to secondhand smoke when growing up are much more likely to suffer from lung cancer, heart disease and cataracts in their later years. Children who are exposed to parental smoking are also more likely to become smokers themselves.
The courts understand the devastating effects of secondhand smoke on children, and have determined that in many cases, the risks of a child's health in exposure to secondhand smoke may be devastating. Sometimes the court may demand that a smoker restrict his or her smoking habits when the children are present or before exercising a period of custody.
In other cases, the courts will simply choose a parent that does not have a smoking habit. Oftentimes the courts will discount claims that a parent is trying to quit smoking. This is because the court believes that the parent may be more motivated by a desire to win custody than by a genuine concern for the health and welfare of the child.
If the court does choose a parent to care for the child that has a smoking habit, and asks the parent to restrict that smoking habit, there is a change that the court will demand an official check on parental compliance from time to time. If the parent is non-compliant with the request to stop smoking, the children may be given to another parent. If you are currently a smoker, you may want to consider stopping your habit if you should choose to file for divorce. Every state handles smoking and child custody differently, so use this directory to locate a nearby attorney who can help you to work through your particular child custody case.