that's my take: were they are actually living and with whom

'home environment' might be a way of bunching the two together

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Note added at 10 minutes (2010-05-04 07:36:51 GMT)
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er, replacing 'were' with 'where' would probably make my sentence clearer

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ES1iz-0...

Factors Involving the Child
Some states have lists of statutory or case law factors that must be considered by a judge in making a decision. Before determining custody, the judge will look at some or all of the following non-exclusive factors by focusing on the child, rather than the parent:

The sex and age of the children
Their emotional, social, moral, material, and educational needs
The respective home environments offered by the parties
The characteristics of those seeking custody, including age, character, stability, mental and physical health
The capacity and interest of each parent to provide for the emotional, social, moral, material, and educational needs of the children
The interpersonal relationship between each child and each parent


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Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-04 08:38:05 GMT)
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or perhaps

moral fitness

North Dakota Divorce Procedures | DivorceLine.org
Next, it will assign a monetary value on the marital property and debt. ... The moral fitness of the parents. 7. The mental and physical health of the parents. ... Military Protection From North Dakota Divorce Proceedings ...
divorceline.org/blog/north-dakota-divorce-procedures/ - Cached

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-04 08:39:15 GMT)
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North Dakota Divorce Procedures | DivorceLine.org
The moral fitness of the parents. 7. The mental and physical health of the parents. ... Military Protection From North Dakota Divorce Proceedings ...
divorceline.org/blog/north-dakota-divorce-procedures/ - Cached
Parenting
This is about custody and visitation after divorce in Louisiana, ... Each parent's moral fitness and the mental and physical health of the parties. ...
www.divorceinfo.com/lafaqsparenting.htm - Cached - Similar

I don't know if there is one stand-out preferred formula for this in English, but this is how I understand the French expression - I would split the concepts to avoid talking about someone's "moral situation" or "moral status": I understand one's "situation matérielle" as one's "financial situation" and one's "situation morale" as one's "character".

just another option

I think it can be kept closer to the French in this instance.

Hello,

I don't think that "moral" is about "morals", but rather the emotional well-being of the parent. That's what the judge is going to be looking at, not necessarily how "moral" someone is (well, kind of, sort of...I guess...lol)

situation matérielle = financial situation
situation morale = emotional situation (mental health)

Should he consider the woman's financial and emotional status to determine the quality of life the woman and her future child would enjoy in this world? ...
caselaw.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=497...

... I do think that it is not something to be encouraged because the mother may not be entirely ready for a baby yet, in a financial and emotional status. ...
www.medicalnewstoday.com/youropinions.php?opinionid


I hope this helps.

I think that moral might be a faux ami here. It is highly unlikely that the court would restrict its interest in the (non-material) circumstances of the parents to their morality. For "situation matériel", the English equivalent would be "material circumstances".

"and the court, rather than the hearings tribunal, has an increasing role ..... growing disparity in the material and social circumstances of children in the ..."
www.informaworld.com/index/790306314.pdf -

"judgements and work activities on cases might be challenged in court, ...... the history of family members, the material and social circumstances of the ..."
research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/.../Rosemary%20Doyle%20PhD%20thesis.P

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Note added at 14 hrs (2010-05-04 21:37:57 GMT)
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Looking again at my comment above, courts in France and in most non-fundamentalist states might be reluctant to consider the parents' moral values any of their business, unless the children were in moral danger e.g. if the parents were involved in the sex industry or crime.