Ellis v. Lyons
Annotate this CaseMother appealed the denial of her request for sole legal and physical custody of her minor daughter (Minor) and to reinstate child support from Father. After Father engaged in a physical altercation with his brother-in-law in a room where Minor was present, Mother sought and obtained a temporary protective order in Massachusetts, her state of residence, that barred Father from contacting Minor. Family Code section 3044 establishes a rebuttable presumption that joint or sole custody for a parent who has perpetrated domestic violence is not in a child‘s best interests. In this case, the court concluded that the family court erred in relying "in whole or in part" on section 3040's preference for frequent and continuing contact with the noncustodial parent. Therefore, the court reversed the order denying Mother's request for modification of the custody arrangement and remanded to allow the family law court to determine the issue under the proper legal framework. The court rejected Mother's contentions that the family law court exhibited gender bias and became embroiled in the proceedings. Finally, the court held that the family court‘s determination that Mother failed to carry her burden to reinstate child support payments was not an abuse of its discretion.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.