Can a parent be granted sole decision-making responsibility solely because of a documented history of family violence?

Yes, a documented history of family violence can, on its own, be enough to support an order for sole decision-making responsibility, where the evidence shows the violence has undermined the parents' ability to communicate and make joint decisions safely, or poses an ongoing risk to the child or the other parent. Shared decision-making generally assumes some baseline level of cooperative, respectful communication between the parents, and a serious, well-documented pattern of family violence or coercive control can undercut that foundation entirely.

This isn't automatic, though — the court still applies the best-interests-of-the-child test as a whole, considering the nature, severity, and timing of the violence, its effect on the child, and whether joint decision-making could realistically work despite it. A history of family violence weighs heavily, but the court is still assessing the full picture rather than applying a fixed rule. Someone seeking sole decision-making responsibility based on a violence history should focus on showing specifically how the pattern affects safe, cooperative decision-making, not just that the history exists.