"change of circumstances"

[thetwojanes]

I've seen the term change of circumstances used on this site and I"m wondering what constitutes a change of circumstances in relation to changing custody.

I have sole custody and the ex has supervised visitation. This is the second time he's had supervised. The first time was temporary and then it changed to unsupervised. However, after about six months of unsupervised, I got a call from the girlfriend (now wife) saying he was in jail and that he had been beating her up while my daughter was at their home. A new judgement was entered that basically said supervised visitation was permanent, but he had the right to take me to court after 6 months. After 3 years he's filed a suit to modify. It was filed 1 1/2 years ago with no activity in the last year. My attorney has thought about filing for dismissal, but at this point we're letting sleeping dogs lie.

In the four years since the supervised visitation order was issued, he has managed to keep the same job and has become a "born again" Christian. Also, as far as I know, she hasn't pressed charges against him for abuse. Would those factors be considered a "change of circumstances"?

Thanks,
thetwojanes

[aaron]

What will constitute a sufficient change of circumstances will be determined on a case-by-case manner in accord with the laws of any particular jurisdiction. Each state's child custody laws vary.

In this specific instance, it is not immediately apparent that it will be necessary for the petitioner to establish a change of circumstances in order to have the court revisit the order, as it appears that the court intended the order to be temporary and subject to later revision. That's something your lawyer can clarify.