Tips To Help You Win Your Custody Battle - Part 2

When a couple initiates divorce proceedings it can be an extremely stressful experience, even if the divorce is amicable. With an amicable divorce, the question of child custody can often be worked out by simple agreement, without much difficulty. When a divorce is contested, however, the issue of child custody can become a major hurdle. If you find yourself in this nightmare, there are things you can do to make it more certain that you will be able to win in the struggle to be given custody of your children.

* You should begin by keeping a detailed calendar of the things that involve your children, and all of the daily tasks involved in their care. You should be fully aware of all of the activities they are involved in, and you should know in detail their daily schedules. You also need to be aware of the particulars of any situations where your ex did not fulfill obligations that involved the children - whether it was picking them up at a certain place and time, or dropping them off on schedule, or other instances of an inability to fulfill custodial duties.

* You must be as cooperative as possible be when it becomes necessary to make changes in your situation to be able to handle the needs of your children - and your former spouse (although that may be a difficult thing to do!) - where your children's schedules are involved. If at all possible, be very helpful when you are asked to adjust your schedule when you are expecting to be with the children. By doing this, (even though it may be manipulation on the part of your ex-spouse), you make it quite obvious to the Judge or that you are making the welfare of the children your top priority, and placing your own needs below that.

* Be prepared to show the court why custody should not be granted to your former spouse. Keep track of how much they are involved in the children's lives, and how willing they are to be accommodating to changes that are needed in matters involving their schedules. If you can show that the children seem to be less important to your ex, it can go a long way to making your case.

* If your ex-spouse's past includes a history of poor mental health, drug or alcohol addictions, or if they have a criminal record, these are highly legitimate issues that must be brought to the attention of the Court to reinforce your argument that you should receive custody. Inappropriate behavior by your ex with a new lover or sexual partner when the children are present is also an important issue that you should present to the Court. Any major issue that might be deleterious to your children's well-being is a legitimate issue for the Court to review when hearing your custody case.

* Make your best effort to hire a competent attorney who can help you with your custody case. An attorney who truly has your best interests, and those of your children, at heart will be your best ally in your case for obtaining the custody of your children. It is also true, however, that finding that special attorney is often an almost impossible task. As a result, you need to have a "fall-back", some resource that can provide an additional source of help you just in case your attorney turns out to be lazy, and simply interested in biling hours while doing little actual work. Another situation that can, and often does, come up with an attorney is that they are simply too busy to keep up with all the important psychological and legal approaches, the kinds of evidence, and types of accusations that work (or fail to work) in the Family Courtroom.

The one best way to get access to this kind of information is to obtain a Custody Guide that has been written by true experts in the field - experts who have all the needed experience and know-how to compile the pertinent information, and to present it in a way that makes it easy for a person without legal training to understand it, and use it. There are various sources for this type of guide that will help you find your way through the often difficult legal landscape that is Child Custody. The links in the resource box will provide further information.