Divorcing alcoholic husband with a young child in California

I decided to leave my husband after 6 years of marriage. We share one child under 5. He has struggled with addiction (both alcohol and marijuana) yes you can be addicted to marijuana, he cannot function without either alcohol or weed every single day all day multiple times a day to the point of being extremely high or drunk. I tried to help and ultimately it just continued to get worse and when he became verbally abusive I left (screaming and throwing things and threatening to hit me). I understand that judges will look at parenting relationships different than the child relationship so what he did to me doesn't count for much but I worry mainly for his drinking when he would have our son if he were to have overnights or consecutive days. He drives drunk, he knocks out from binge drinking, he will sleep until maybe 2pm the following day, I worry for his safety and honesty just feel bad for that being part of his upbringing in seeing his dad that way. I have photos of beer cans in the car, photos of him with it in his hands while driving, there's record of him when I called 911 because I thought he was missing but he got drunk and decided to not come home and go to a hotel. He got diagnosed with gout so now he's seeing medical repercussions as well. NOT asking for legal advice as Ill be consulting with local lawyers but wondering peoples personal experiences with divorcing an alcoholic while sharing children

Posted Mar 14, 2026, 6:25 AM UTC

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