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Coronavirus crisis complicates child custody battles

By Kerry Picket
Published April 15, 2020 2:09pm ET
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Coronavirus crisis complicates child custody battles
In this photo provided by T.J. Sjostrum and taken July 26, 2019, is Sjostrum with his son Nolan at the Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, after his son flew over for the summer. The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on divorced families’ custody arrangements as parents get sick or exposed to the illness. In other cases, it is driving already feuding exes to battle over how seriously the other is heeding stay-at-home orders. Sjostrum, a 36-year-old researcher in Virginia, said he was getting ready to pick up his 10-year-old son when his ex-wife said she wanted the boy to stay with her for the duration of the stay-at-home order. He said he had already been waiting for a court hearing to revisit their custody plan and now doesn't know when he'll get one. | (T.J. Sjostrom via AP)

Former spouses who are in arranged custody agreements or are still in the midst of custody battles with one another over their children must now contend with the COVID-19 crisis as part of their legal entanglements.

A Miami emergency room physician on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic temporarily lost custody of her 4-year-old daughter after state Circuit Court Judge Bernard Shapiro ruled the child should stay with her father to limit the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

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COVID-19 Divorce Family Law