Custody

Joint custody will not be considered beneficial and favorable for the minor child in any the following cases:

1. in the opinion of a mental health professional, one of the parents has a mental handicap or deficiency that is not curable and will make it difficult for him/her to adequately protect the physical, mental, and emotional safety and integrity of the child;
2. acts committed by one of the parents endanger or set a bad example for the minor child;
3. one of the parents is incarcerated;
4. one of the parents has a criminal conviction for “domestic violence,” which includes the following crimes:
   • abuse;
   • aggravated abuse;
   • abuse by threat;
   • abuse by the restriction of freedom; or
   • sexual assault by a partner;¹
5. one of the parents has committed sexual abuse or any sexual crime against any minor child – it does not have to be against his/her own child;
6. one of the parents or his/her current intimate partner has been convicted of child abuse; or
7. one of the parents or his/her current intimate partner is addicted to alcohol or illegal drugs.²

¹ 8 L.P.R.A. § 631-635
² 32 L.P.R.A. § 3187