Do "Home Drug Test Kits" hold enough evidence in family court?

Question

I would like to know if anyone has used a home drug test kit on their small child to detect second hand smoke from marijuana? My child is exposed to it weekly by her paternal grandmother during her father's visitation and no one has been able to help me keep her out of her house because her father has shared legal and physical custody, and lives with his mother. I was told that I need to get proof of my daughters exposure to it through a doctor doing the test and that would be enough to keep her out of there and possibly get full custody back. Do you think this is true? Do those kits really hold up in court? Thanks for the advice.

Answer 1

A home drug test would probably not be enough. Usually, the only drug tests to be held up in court are administered by someone either from the state, or a state-licensed company. These companies can sometimes be expensive, so you may want to look into your state's laws and see what is admissible. Contact a family lawyer and see how much legal advice you can get out of him for free, but if you really want to get your daughter back, you would need to hire a lawyer. This should be a fairly routine case for the lawyer, but you can still expect to pay quite a bit. Since you're the mother, you already have a step above the father, especially if you live in a conservative state like Texas or Alabama. Those judges love to give the child to the parent, but they also believe that single mothers can't do it on their own, or that the child needs *two* parents, and so are loathe to give sole custody to either parent. You're looking at a tough battle, but I wish you the best of luck. If you are a minority (or even if your child is of minority descent, Mexican, black, whatever), look into help for legal costs. Use your search engine, type in whichever minority you or your child belong to, and the words "legal help".

Answer 2

No, because you cannot prove the 'evidence chain' which grants legal proof to evidence. In other words, you cannot prove you did not tamper with the test.

BUT, the test will grant you enough power to get a doctor to run another test, or a legal agency to run a legal test. Check with Child Services (every state has one) and ask them how to handle this situation.

Answer 3

I would advise you to have the test done through your Dr.s office this way they can confirm "on record" that your daughter has come in contact with the substance. Also, that way the Dr. can recommend that the child be removed from the premises were she has come i contact with the drug. Good Luck :)