A DUI conviction is never a good thing. It can affect your ability to retain or obtain a professional license, it can cause you to lose your job, it can affect future employment opportunities, college entrance, scholarships, auto insurance, and more importantly, it can impact a child custody case.

Today, roughly half of all marriages end in divorce, so that's a lot of children whose custody will be decided by a family court judge.

If you're currently in the middle of a paternity action, a legal separation, a divorce, or a child custody modification and you were recently arrested for DUI, you may be worried that the DUI could work against you and that is a valid concern.

When DUI Impacts Child Custody

If this is your first DUI offense, and your child was not in the car with you during the arrest, and no one was injured or killed, then you should be facing misdemeanor DUI charges, which are far better than a felony DUI.

If you take the initiative and sign up for AA classes or drug or alcohol treatment, then it will help your case, even if you know you don't have a "drinking problem."

If this was a one-time deal, and you don't have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, the DUI may not break your child custody case, but it's fact specific. Also, the older the DUI, the less impact it has on a child custody battle.

If you have multiple DUIs, a recent DUI can be the nail in the coffin when it comes to a child custody battle. Your ex is likely to question your "moral fitness" and argue that it's not safe to let you drive with the children. If your ex delivers a convincing argument, the judge can ultimately side with him or her, the opposite of what you want.

Are you a mother or father who was recently arrested for DUI? If so, the best way to protect your parental rights is to retain an experienced DUI attorney!