310-552-3500
Land Legal Group is dedicated to providing high-quality legal services throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas, including Little Tokyo, Old Chinatown, Naud Junction, New Chinatown, Aliso Village, Mission Junction, Taylor Junction, Angelino Heights, Pico Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Glendale Junction, Butte Street Junction, Dayton Avenue, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Wyvernwood, and Saint James Park. With a deep understanding of the unique cultural dynamics and legal needs of each neighborhood, we are committed to providing compassionate and effective legal representation to our clients.
At the Land Legal Group, our Los Angeles family law attorneys know that when parents share minor children during California divorce proceedings, a child custody agreement becomes the priority.
Unfortunately, this often translates into the couple fighting over who “gets” the kids.
This discussion can become even more heated when one parent is taking antidepressants or other medications as part of their treatment for a mental health condition.
Unfortunately, some spouses will attempt to use the other parent’s depression diagnosis against them during their divorce proceedings.
The question is, will it work? Will your mental health treatment plan hinder your ability to obtain custody of your children? While each divorce and child custody client we represent is different, as all family law cases are genuinely unique, we have general answers based solely on our family law experience.
The Land Legal Group Can Help You Build a Strong Child Custody Case
If you have been diagnosed with depression, and your spouse is threatening to use your mental health condition and prescription medication use against you in court, chances are the judge is going to want to hear him or her out.
The good news is, if you have sought professional help for your condition, you are already on the right track. If you were depressed and sought help, you were being proactive and took the initiative to ensure your mental health is a priority.
This shows you care about yourself and your family.
Further, whether your depression is situational and brought on by the divorce — or the circumstances that led up to your divorce — or chemical and ongoing, according to Harvard Medical School, antidepressants are among the most prescribed medications in the United States.
This means you are simply one of millions of people who are getting the help they need for a medical condition. If you are taking the medication as lawfully prescribed, and the depression is not interfering with your ability to parent, accusations of being “crazy” are not going to make it very far inside the courtroom.
If necessary, your physician, clinical psychologist, or another mental health professional can testify to the fact that your mental health condition and the prescription medication you are taking to treat it do not impact your ability to parent, work, and manage finances to help the court make reasonable decisions about child custody, visitation, and any spousal support requirements.
Contact Our Los Angeles Family Law Attorneys at the Land Legal Group Today
If you have questions about how your mental health diagnosis will impact your divorce, contact our team of skilled family law attorneys in Los Angeles at the Land Legal Group by calling (310) 552-3500 today.
