Let me start off by saying that I hate lawyers and I hate legal proceedings. And child custody is at the top of my list of things that I hate the most. As a parent, there is nothing worse than this. But I don’t have to tell you that if you’re reading this article. Right now, you are literally fighting for your life. Well, before you begin that fight, you might want to read the few paragraphs below. It just might mean the difference between winning and losing.
For starters, and I can’t stress this enough, get yourself a good lawyer. Don’t ask him what his fees are or anything like that. Just get the best. Quite honestly, if fighting for custody of your child doesn’t deserve the best then save yourself the trouble and hand the kid over to your ex. I’m serious. Without a great lawyer, you don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell.
Don’t come off as the bad guy. In other words, yes, you want to point out the weaknesses of your ex when testifying. But you also want to point out what is good about your ex. This is a strategy that usually works very well because you come off as being unbiased in your opinion. Naturally, consult with your attorney on this tactic, but I think he will agree that it can work very well as it will paint you as a fair person.
By the same token, don’t paint yourself as a saint. This isn’t going to wash. You want to be honest about your own weaknesses. If you have some serious ones, such as being an alcoholic, you want to own up to this. If you’re up front about your own problems, but also stress that you’re working on improving, this will go over very well with the judge. We all have our faults. Don’t try to hide yours.
Finally, and this is something that few people do, find out as much as you can about the judge who is going to be presiding over the proceedings. Why do you want to do this? Because every judge is going to have his or her prejudices, as fair as they all try to be…they are still human. Some judges favor men over women and visa versa. If you don’t know your judge, you are at a disadvantage.
One extremely powerful resource which greatly helped me prepare for my own child custody battle can be found at this website. At the very least, read it. It really could mean the difference between winning and losing.
Tags: child custody, Child Custody Rights, child custody rights and the law, how to win child custody