STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION
Gambling Addiction & Parental Rights IN HER ENTRY TO THE SECOND IMGL STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION, TAMERA PARSON EXAMINES THE TREATMENT BY DOMESTIC COURTS OF ADDICTION TO GAMBLING ARGUING THAT CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO A GROWING PROBLEM SHOULD BE GREATER
Introduction For many, gambling is an enjoyable pastime, but for a few, it is a compulsion or addiction. As opportunities for gambling become more accessible, especially through lotteries and electronic gaming machines, it is likely that more people will develop serious gambling problems. 1 A gambling addiction has the potential to impact an individual’s life as well as the life of their family. Family law and addictions have a large intersection in various ways such as divorce and property assets or alimony payments. That connection goes further though when parental rights, child custody, and visitation rights are considered. A child’s home stability is affected if their parent is addicted to gambling and has let it destroy their lives and ability to provide a safe environment. Gainful employment and the ability to provide a financially stable home is at jeopardy if
a parent compulsively gambles. Drug and alcohol addictions are strongly considered when hearing family law proceedings in order to protect children involved, and gambling addictions should be treated in the same fashion. This paper will argue that gambling addiction and its impacts should be considered when evaluating a parent’s rights in family law proceedings, such as termination of rights, custody and visitation determinations, as well as in hearings to determine child support payments. Gambling addiction and its impacts Around 85% of American adults admit to having gambled at some point in their lives, but “an estimated two million Americans meet the criteria for addictive or pathological gambling.” 2 A U.S. male suffering from gambling addiction will typically incur debts from $55,000 to $90,000, and over
1 Darbyshire P, Oster C, Carrig H. Children of Parent(s) Who Have a Gambling Problem: A Review of the Literature and Commentary on Re- search Approaches. Health Soc Care Community , July 2001. 2 Spencer H. Newman, Unreasonably Risky: Why A Negligence Standard Should Replace the Bankruptcy Code’s Fraudulent Intent Analysis for Gambling Debts , 8 UNLV GAMING L.J. 197 (2018).
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IMGL MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2024
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