## Q29 key (Custody After Relapse)

1. Tessa's 14 months of recovery, stable home and work, successful unsupervised weekends, bond, and Eli's preference support eventual expansion. The relapse, impaired driving, delayed disclosure, and only five weeks of renewed testing are the central counterweights. Missed: counsel presents only the favorable recovery arc.
2. Eli's absence reduces direct exposure but does not make the event irrelevant; impaired driving and concealment bear on judgment, relapse stability, transportation, and cooperative parenting. Missed: “the child was not there” is used as a complete answer.
3. Immediate equal custody is not supportable on this record, and no emergency expansion exists. The therapist recommends gradual change, the counselor wants longer observation, and current safeguards protect Eli. Missed: an overreaching motion is denied and damages Tessa's credibility.
4. A rational phased proposal is continued supervised contact now, expansion to unsupervised daytime and then overnight time after 90 additional days of negative random testing and treatment compliance, no driving with Eli until license and monitoring conditions are satisfied, continued counseling, immediate disclosure of any relapse, and a review date for further step-up. Missed: “more time” lacks objective safety conditions.
5. Tessa should tell the full relapse facts, accept responsibility for the ten-day delay, and emphasize the immediate treatment response without claiming five weeks proves long-term stability. Missed: concealment becomes a courtroom credibility finding.
6. Negotiate Daniel's offered 90-day step-up and seek court approval if agreement is reached. File only for the phased structure if Daniel refuses reasonable terms; do not file tomorrow for equal time. Missed: litigation timing converts a recoverable setback into evidence against safe expansion.