What To Do If My Wife Threatens to Call 911?

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Daniel Clement

I was asked the following question on the Law Guru website

My wife and I are having problems. We are proposing a temp. separation. Things are getting heated, with demands and threats... ''If I don't do as she wishes or says'' she will call 911. I avoid her as much as possible, most of the threats are over the phone. We also have a 5yo child. I don't know what to do. Do I move out per her demands and face abandonment, do I call 911 first??

 If your spouse commits or even threatens to commit an act of violence the police should be immediately summoned. When there has been an act of domestic violence and the police forced to respond, they have no discretion and will make an arrest. 

In cases where each of the parties accuses the other of domestic violence, both parties could find themselves under arrest. The police will arrest both parties and let the court sort out the facts and determine who is the violent offender. When there is an arrest, an order of protection is issued.

In cases where there has been no actual violence, but your spouse still threatens to call 911, it is best to simply leave the home. It is simply too dangerous to remain under the same roof with someone willing to make false accusations of domestic violence. From my professional experience, these threats are carried out. Fights are provoked and the police are called. 

If you are arrested an order of protection will be issued and you will be expelled from the marital home.  As a result, you may have limited access to you children and you unable to retrieve your clothing and other personal property unless escorted by a police officer. 

Given that your personal liberty is a stake, there is no downside to leaving the marital home given the threats.

 

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False Abuse Claims and Interference With Visitation Leads to Loss of Custody

Posted on February 5, 2008 by Daniel Clement

Every once in awhile, there is a reported case where one parent’s interference with the rights of the other parent, results in the interfering parent’s loss of custody. I have written about this problem before.

Nikolic v. Ingrassia presents another such case where unfounded claims of abuse  by one parent resulted in a loss of  custody.   In Nickolic, the Appellate Division affirmed a lower court’s finding that:

. . . .the mother had interfered with the father's visitation rights by demonstrating a "relentless determination . . . to have the father characterized as an abuser" and thereby preclude his access to the child. The court's finding is supported by substantial evidence, including several unfounded reports of abuse made by the mother to the police and to Child Protective Services, as well as the opinion of a psychologist that the young child may have been coached to say that her father had hit her.

Having made that finding, the Court “recognized that the [w]illful interference with a noncustodial parent's right to visitation is so inconsistent with the best interests of the child as to raise a strong probability that the offending party is unfit to act as a custodial parent."

BE WARNED- Unfounded and false reports of abuse will not be condoned and will be punished. You will lose custody of your children.
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