Being a parent is hard. It demands your time and attention. It can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. It requires sacrifice. Yet for so many parents, raising children is the most rewarding part of their lives.
Being a recovering addict is also difficult. Like being a parent, recovery demands time and constant attention. It can be physically, emotionally, and financially draining. And it requires a great deal of sacrifice. But for so many recovering alcoholics, sobriety can be life-changing.
For those who are struggling to parent because they feel trapped in the grip of alcohol use or recovery, keeping or obtaining custody of a child (or children) can seem almost impossible. But every parent, including one recovering from addiction, has a legal right to custody of their children. And there is help available.
Every parent has a legal right to custody of their children.
If you are a recovering addict who is trying to maintain or regain custody of a child, this article explains:
- What rights you have as a parent to custody of your child
- What courts consider when making child custody decisions
- How your alcohol use could affect your rights to custody of your child
- 5 things you can do to protect your rights to custody of your child
- How alcohol monitoring can help you keep or regain custody of your child.
Keep reading to learn how to protect your parental rights as a recovering alcoholic.
Editor’s note: When we talk about an “alcoholic,” we’re referring to someone who is struggling with an alcohol use disorder. While the term “alcoholic” is still widely used, it is outdated and can sometimes carry negative connotations and judgment, which can hinder understanding and compassion. In certain instances, we do include “alcoholic” to ensure that a wide range of individuals – who adopt a wide range of terms – can easily find and access our resources. However, it’s more accurate and empathetic to use the phrase “person with an alcohol use disorder.” This term reflects the complexity of the condition rather than ascribing it to someone as a personality trait.
What is a parent’s right to custody?
The United States Constitution guarantees every parent the fundamental right to have custody of their children and to raise their children as they see fit. Those rights are defined in the child custody laws of every state.

While each state may have its own statutes and specific rules regarding the custody of children, all states have laws that provide for the following forms of child custody:
Legal custody
Legal custody is the right of every parent to make legal decisions regarding the health and well-being of their child. This may include decisions affecting the child’s:
- Medical treatment
- Educational needs
- Religious beliefs and practices
- Personal relationships and associations
- Any other decisions affecting the child’s basic needs.
Unless a court determines that a parent is unfit to have legal custody of a child, every state presumes that each parent of a child has full and equal rights to legal custody of their child.
Physical custody
Physical custody involves the right to be present with a child or to be responsible for the physical care and control of the child. A parent does not have to have legal custody to have physical custody of their child.
Joint custody
Joint custody, also called “shared custody,” means that both parents have legal and/or physical custody of a child. When parents have joint legal custody, it means they both have equal rights to make legal decisions on behalf of the child. When parents have joint physical custody, they can either share equal time with the child (50/50), or one parent can have the child for a greater percentage of time.
Sole custody
Sole custody means that only one parent has legal and/or physical custody of the child.
Visitation
Having visitation rights means having a right to be with the child at specific times but not necessarily having legal or physical custody of the child.
A parent who has less than 50% of the shared physical custody of a child is sometimes said to have visitation rights. Other persons, such as grandparents, could also be awarded visitation rights through a state’s grandparent visitation statute.
Some states apply a presumption that parents will share equal custody of their child. If a parent wishes to have sole custody of the child, that parent will have the burden of overcoming the presumption for joint custody by proving that it is not in the child’s best interest for the parents to share custody. One parent’s alcoholism could be a sufficient reason to overcome a presumption for joint custody.
What do courts consider when making child custody decisions?
When a court is deciding custody between two parents, the court must determine what is in the best interest of the child. It is presumed that it is in the best interest of the child to be in the custody of the parent who is the child’s primary caretaker. This is usually the parent who primarily addresses the child’s daily needs, such as:
- Providing meals
- Preparing for school
- Arranging medical visits
- Helping with homework
- Enforcing discipline
- Engaging in social activities
However, even if one parent is determined to be the primary caretaker, that parent may not be awarded custody if that parent is determined to be unfit as a parent. A court may determine a parent to be unfit if the parent’s actions pose a danger to the child or do not serve the best interests of the child.

A parent’s history of alcohol use is a critical factor that can affect the parent’s ability to care for the child and, consequently, the court’s decision about child custody.
For example, California law expressly provides that a court may consider a parent’s habitual or continual abuse of alcohol when determining the best interest of the child. Other states, like Arizona, for example, may adopt a rebuttable presumption that a parent’s abuse of alcohol within a certain time period is sufficient evidence that it is not in the child’s best interest for that parent to have custody of the child.
Curious about how the laws in your state address custody and alcohol? Download a PDF overview for your state.
In either case, it becomes an important consideration for the court that the parent in recovery is able to demonstrate that he or she is not abusing alcohol and that his or her alcohol use in the past no longer affects his or her ability to have custody of the child.
How does a parent’s alcohol use affect a court’s child custody decision?
A parent’s casual use of alcohol does not necessarily affect a court’s decision regarding custody of a child. However, if a parent’s use of alcohol is shown to negatively affect the child’s health, safety, or welfare, a court can consider this in deciding legal or physical custody of the child.
According to a 2023 report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, approximately 10.5% of children in the United States who are age 17 or younger live with a parent who has alcohol use disorder (AUD).1 For these 7.5 million children, a parent’s alcohol use could be relevant to the court in a variety of legal proceedings, including:
- An initial custody determination after a divorce
- A request by one parent to modify an existing custody order
- Deciding whether the parent abusing alcohol should have supervised visitation with the child
- A finding of abuse or neglect in a child dependency adjudication
- A decision to completely terminate a parent’s custody rights
And alcohol use often does come into play.

According to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI), parental substance abuse is a factor in approximately 50-79% of child welfare cases in which a child is removed from a parent’s custody.2 A 2020 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare provides that half of all infants placed in the United States foster system in 2019 were removed due to a parent’s use of drugs or alcohol.3And, alcohol or substance abuse is a factor in 25% of cases in which allegations of child maltreatment have been substantiated.4
Something to note: A court’s consideration of a parent’s alcohol use can be based on how the abuse of alcohol affects the parent’s health, but it is primarily based on how it affects the parent’s ability to:
- Exercise proper judgment. Alcohol has a direct impact on cognitive functioning. When a parent is intoxicated, they often do not make rational decisions, which can affect the child’s safety and well-being.
- Supervise and protect the child. Alcohol binges can cause a parent to neglect a child or ignore a child’s hazardous environment, thereby placing the child at risk.
- Provide for the child’s daily needs. Alcohol can cause a parent to ignore or neglect the child’s needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, schooling, or emotional support. A parent who is intoxicated or “hung over” is often not accessible to the child or aware of the child’s needs.
- Properly relate with the child. Alcohol can trigger inappropriate emotional responses in the parent, such as anger, frustration, irritability, and depression, which can negatively affect the child.
Alcohol abuse also can have a direct impact on the child. Not only may the child’s daily needs be neglected, but children living with an alcoholic parent may be subject to:
- A negative environment. A household with an alcoholic parent can be a chaotic and unstable environment, especially if the parent is abusive or violent.
- Emotional trauma. Children living with an alcoholic parent can be exposed to physical or verbal hostility directed toward themselves or toward another parent or family member. They also can experience shame or guilt over the parent’s unpredictable alcohol-induced behavior.
- Stress and added responsibility. Often children of an alcoholic parent experience stress from their physical, social, or educational needs not being met. In addition, children often have the added pressure of having to care for their incapacitated parent.
- Developmental delays. A parent’s alcohol use can have long-term affects on children as they become adults. For example, approximately 61% of adult children of an alcoholic parent struggle with at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), which can increase the risk for other issues such as:
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- Lower socioeconomic status
- Difficulty forming interpersonal relationships.5
Learn more: The Effects of a Parent’s Alcoholism on Children
In addition to how a parent’s alcohol use can affect children, negative consequences can extend to other family relationships, which also can affect a court’s decisions regarding child custody.
5 Steps: What a recovering addict can do to keep or regain child custody
Because a court can consider a parent’s history of alcohol use or abuse in making a custody determination, recovering alcoholics face an uphill battle in maintaining or regaining custody of a child. However, the court’s goal is to protect the best interests of the child, not to deprive an alcoholic parent of a relationship with their child.
Here are five things that a recovering addict can do to protect or regain their rights to custody of their child.

1. Don’t give up
According to a 2021 report on alcoholism recovery:
- About 36% of people suffering from alcoholism recover after one year
- Approximately 18% of recovering alcoholics achieved low-risk drinking after one year
- About 18% of people recovering from AUD are able to abstain from drinking completely after one year of sobriety
- Around 60% of individuals who are sober for two years remain sober
- A majority of former drinkers who stay sober for five years remain sober thereafter6
Whether you are in the midst of alcoholism or are working through recovery, if your parental rights have not been terminated, do not give up on yourself or on the legal system.
Every court operates under the legal principle that it is in every child’s best interest to have a healthy and nurturing relationship with both parents. And courts will go to great lengths to provide every parent the opportunity to do that. There is assistance available to help you overcome your circumstances and to maintain a healthy relationship with your children.
2. Be accountable
As the saying goes, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.
If you are struggling with alcoholism and face losing custody of your child, you must be accountable and recognize the impact your behaviors are having on your child.
Likewise, if you are recovering but are one of the 90% of individuals with AUD who relapse at least once, you must be accountable for where you are in the recovery process and continue to work toward gaining custody of your child.7
3. Accept help
Part of being accountable and taking responsibility for custody of your child means accepting the help that is available. This may mean seeking treatment and being subject to legal proceedings and court supervision as you progress through your recovery.
4. Participate in treatment
An important factor in proving to the court that you deserve custody of your child is demonstrating that you are not using alcohol and are not likely to use alcohol when you have custody of your child. Successfully participating in treatment is one of the best ways to demonstrate to the court that you are fit to have custody of your child.
5. Create a parenting plan
In addition to requiring the completion of a treatment program, before a court will award custody of a child to a recovering alcoholic, the court will require evidence of an effective parenting plan. This may include:
- Cooperation with the court. A court has authority to place conditions on a parent’s right to custody. This may include successfully completing treatment and cooperating with any other requirements the court imposes to ensure the safety of the child while in the custody of a parent.
- Supervised visitation. Supervised visitation also may be necessary to ensure the child’s safety until the court is convinced that the recovering parent poses no risk to the welfare of the child.
- Proof of sobriety. The best indication of a parent’s recovery and right to child custody is sobriety. Using a BACtrack breathalyzer device as part of a court-approved parenting plan can be an effective way for a recovering alcoholic to prove their sobriety to a court that is evaluating and monitoring the parent’s sobriety.
Can alcohol monitoring help protect my child custody rights?
Using a portable breathalyzer device like BACtrack View is a simple, reliable, and effective way to demonstrate to a court, or to another parent, that you are not using alcohol and that you are capable of assuming custody of your child.
Hundreds of courts have incorporated BACtrack into their custody proceedings to support their custody decision, and provide parents an opportunity to present accurate evidence of their recovery progress. BACtrack View results can be a critical part of an effective parenting plan that can be ordered by the court or made part of a custody agreement between both parents.
Remote alcohol monitoring can be a valuable resource in any custody dispute for:
- Submitting relevant evidence of a parent’s right to child custody
- Establishing trust between parents disputing custody of a child
- Ensuring a child’s safety during scheduled custody or visitation periods
- Confidence and relief that effective parenting is possible while recovering from alcoholism or other substance abuse.
If you are a recovering addict and are involved in a custody dispute in which your alcohol use may be an issue for the court, speak to your attorney to assist you in keeping or regaining custody of your child.
Sources
- https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/consequences-families-united-states ↩︎
- https://adai.uw.edu/pubs/pdf/2015childwelfare.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871623011821 ↩︎
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3676900/ ↩︎
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- https://www.newdirectionsforwomen.org/what-percentage-of-alcoholics-recover/#:~:text=7%20Alcoholism%20Recovery%20Statistics%20To,a%20low%20level%20of%20drinking. ↩︎
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1976118/ ↩︎