You will be asking yourself how you can get through your child custody hearing with the verdict leaning in your favor. Usually when a parent ends up with this sort of problem, they will certainly be clueless as to the different things that will need to be done. Most states have their own individual laws in place regarding child custody, but they do share some general standards.
It’s perfectly natural for parents to get very emotional when they are dealing with a child custody case. You are dealing with a variety of issues, from conflicts with your former partner to wanting the best for your child. However, during such times you should try as much as possible to avoid being angry and negative. If you focus too much on how bad your former partner is, you won’t accomplish anything helpful. You’ll be distressing your child–he or she doesn’t want to see you or your former spouse as a villain. You also aren’t going to be impressing a judge when you have a negative attitude. You are also going to find it difficult to think clearly and to plan a very constructive strategy. This is the reason that, if you want to be given custody of your child, you will do your best to keep your emotions in check.
In these cases, mediation is a good alternative to going to court when you are in a child custody battle. This trend is a growing one and it is actually worth considering. Studies show that when both parents agree to use mediation, it is a lot more likely that an agreement will get reached most of the time. This is great for parents and children alike. This is usually much quicker and far less expensive than a court battle. Mediation is also quite a lot easier on kids because it is based around dialogue and not conflict. In some circumstances mediation isn’t going to work but it should still be your first course of action.
Allowing yourself to foster a rebellious attitude toward a court system would be a huge mistake. Fathers, especially, seem to believe that the system is set up and rigged against them and unfairly so. It doesn’t matter whether this is true or not, it is not going to help to go to your court date feeling like the judge is already against you. You have to work with the system as it is, not how you wish it was.
So do your best to work within the system in a practical and reasonable way. Make sure you have a lawyer who can advise you as to how to do this. Having a victim mentality, however, will not help you win your child custody case. This article has only scratched the surface of what might come into play during a child custody case. Each case is a little different, and you also have to consider the different laws that exist in different states. This is why you need to talk to an attorney before you even think about taking any sort of big steps in one of these situations. It’s always best to move forward with caution and make sure you know exactly what you’re doing.
