Attached is a scenario you will use for the remainder of this chapter. Assume you work for a lawyer that represents Marie. She has expressed concern that David wants sole legal and physical custody because he wants to "start over with his girlfriend." Maria is concerned that David will use her depression and weight gain against her to show she is a bad mother.

Your job is to review the Best Interests of the Child Factors and, based on those and the facts as you know them, draft 8 Interrogatories for David to answer about custody. You questions should be the most important questions your attorney would need to get Maria joint legal and physical custody of her children. In other words, which of the BIOC factors will you focus on.

HYPOTHETICAL DIVORCE FACT PATTERN

David and Marie were married on July 17, 2005, inDearborn, Michigan.Marie was born on September 7, 1982.Her birth name is Rogers.David was born on October 3, 1980.Both parties were born in Detroit and were raised as devout Catholics.David no longer practices his religion, but Marie is very active in her local church.The children often attend Mass with her, and this is a source of great tension between the parties.

David and Marie were high school sweethearts.After graduation from high school, Marie remained at home.She worked as a cashier in a local convenience store and attended beauty school at night.She was unable to complete her course of study because her mother became ill, and she had to help care for her.David went off to Michigan State University to study mathematics.

David and Marie planned to get married following David's graduation from college, and they continued to see each other during his school vacations.During David's senior year, he wrote to Marie and told her that he wanted to date other women.Marie was devastated.During spring break, they saw each other, had sexual relations, and Marie became pregnant.

As a result of the pregnancy, the parties decided to get married.At the time, David thought it was what he wanted, but now in retrospect, he feels as if he had no choice.The wedding was held shortly after David's graduation and their son, Jon, was born on December 12, 2004.A second son, Charles, was born on May 12, 2006, and a daughter, Megan, was born on June 16, 2014.

Since their marriage, David has been employed as a math teacher at a local junior high school.Initially, he had hoped to begin working on his master's degree in mathematics following graduation, while Marie continued at her cashier's job, but the parties decided it was important for Marie to remain home with Jon.Accordingly, to his great disappointment, he was unable to pursue his educational plans.

David earns $47,000 per year from his teaching job, and the family is covered on his health insurance plan.He also does odd jobs for people during the summers and on weekends and earns roughly an additional $8,000 per year from this work.He is paid under the table for the odd jobs, and the couple has never declared this income.He is a good provider and a devoted father to his two sons, however, as discussed below, he has had difficulty relating to his daughter.

Since the birth of Jon, Marie has not been employed outside of the home.She maintains the house and is the primary caretaker of the children.She also sells Tupperware and earns approximately $3,500 per year from the sales.Historically, she has been a very devoted and caring mother, but, as discussed below, she has had some difficulties since the birth of Megan.

Megan was an unplanned pregnancy.The parties had agreed not to have any more children.At the time Marie had become pregnant with Megan, David had been accepted into a master's program in mathematics and Marie was going to return to work to help support the family.The plan was that when David completed his degree, he would then support Marie through beauty school or possibly college.

David believes that Marie got pregnant deliberately by failing to use birth control.He thinks she was trying to sabotage his plans to return to school.David wanted Marie to have an abortion, but she refused.This was a major crisis in their relationship, and during the pregnancy, the marriage began to fall apart.David became increasingly angry that once again, he would have to defer his educational plans because of "Marie's" pregnancy.

David was very bitter about the birth of Megan.According to Marie, he has not bonded with Megan and his interaction with her has been minimal.David acknowledges that he has difficulties with Megan but says that he has been working on the relationship and that he never really bonded with his sons when they were very young.It is clear, however, that since her birth he has spent much less time at home, although he continues to engage in weekend activities with the boys.

Since Megan's birth, Marie has experienced several bouts of depression.The birth of her daughter triggered memories of having been sexually abused as a child by an uncle.She has been hospitalized twice and is seeing a therapist regularly.She gained about 50 pounds during her pregnancy and has gained another 30 pounds since giving birth.Also, according to David, she has begun to drink heavily and has neglected the home and the children.On several occasions, a neighbor has found Megan wandering around the neighborhood.

According to Marie, David has become verbally abusive, and she states that he has hit her on a few occasions.David denies hitting her but acknowledges that he may have sounded "gruff' on a few occasions.

According to David, Marie has completely closed herself off to any support from him.He acknowledges feeling overwhelmed by her problems and trapped.This is particularly painful for him because he saw his parents weighed down by the responsibilities of many children and had vowed this would not happen to him.

Megan is developmentally delayed.No one is quite sure why, but her pediatrician speculates that it may be related to the problems at home.A specialized play group has been recommended but David and Marie have not followed through with the recommendation. The pediatrician has struggled with whether to file an abuse and neglect complaint with the Department of Social Services, but so far has opted against doing this.

Several months ago, Jon was caught shoplifting from a local store.David and Marie also learned recently that Jon and several other boys have been gathering at a friend's house after school to watch pornographic movies that an older neighbor rents for them.There is some concern that they may also have involved some younger neighborhood children in this activity.Each parent blames the other for Jon's behavior.

This seemed to be the breaking point, and on August 1, 2009, David moved out of the house.He has refused to go to any kind of counseling with Marie. Since moving out, David has seen the boys on a regular basis and has spent a little bit of time with Megan.According to him, the house has become a pigsty, and on several occasions when he came to pick up the boys, the children were filthy and there was no food in the house.He also says that he smelled alcohol on Marie's breath.

Marie acknowledges that since Megan's birth she has had some difficulty caring for the home and the children on her own, but says she is not neglectful.She also says that on one occasion when David came to pick up the children, he pushed her against the wall and threatened to choke her if she did not get her act together.David does not deny pushing her but does deny choking her.He says that he did this out of a desperate need to try to get through to Marie.

Since his departure, David has been dating a co-worker.Marie suspects he began seeing her when she became pregnant, but David denies this.The woman is also a teacher and has a master's degree in English and is working on a Ph.D. in comparative literature.She loves children and does not have any of her own.At the end of the current semester, she and David are planning to move in together.

With respect to assets, the parties have very little.They own a small condominium.They paid $140,000 for it after their marriage with a $20,000 down payment.The condo is now worth about $145,000, although the real estate market is depressed.They owe about $118, 000 on the mortgage. The money for the down payment came from wedding presents and an insurance settlement from a car accident that Marie had been in.They have about $1,800 in a savings account and owe about $3,500 in credit card debts.David has about $9,000 in his teacher's retirement account.They own basic household furnishings and two old cars, both of which are paid for.