Child Custody
Child Custody Court Hearings - What to Expect at Your First Custody Hearing
Nothing puts a knot in the pit of your stomach in quite the way the way that going to a custody hearing at family court does. One of the most frequent questions I see is "What should I expect?". Well if you haven't been there or your last experience was bad, then you will want to spend some time educating yourself about what happens and how you should both prepare and act.
Unless you are nearing the end of your court journey and heading to settlement conferences and the like, you will normally have about 15 minutes or less. Excuse me, but that 15 minutes is for your hearing, not the amount of time that you get to speak. By the time the judge speaks, your ex speaks and then you get to have a say you're looking at about 5 minutes.
So your life and your child's fate all comes down to how you spend your 5 minutes. Think about that for just a moment. You have so much to say and if you put yourself in front of a total stranger for 5 minutes, do you think they would see your side? Maybe. And now let that total stranger get 5 minutes with the ex telling them what a horrible person you are. What do you think will happen? Most people aren't optimistic at this point. I mean how are you going to possibly explain all of the ugliness that your ex can put out in 5 minutes?
So now that you're convinced no possible good can come from this hearing, let's look at the title again. "What to expect at you first custody hearing". You see the scenario above is what could happen if you don't prepare. But what would happen if we did things a bit differently.
Take the case of a man I just helped prepare for his hearing. He was terrified that his ex was going to leave the state with his child and he would not be able to see her. You see she had remarried and was going to relocate to a military base. This wasn't a threat, this was a foregone conclusion. He was desperate and knew that arguing wasn't going to get him what he wanted.
He was right to be scared and absolutely correct that he would not accomplish anything by arguing. So what I did was taught him to focus his 5 minutes on the issue of his case. No matter what the ex accused him of or how she tried to change the conversation, he was to bring it back focus on not moving his daughter out of state.
When the court date came mother made some rather awful allegations about father and when the judge asked father what he thought of them, father responded, "these issues have no bearing on this motion". The judge agreed and chastised mother. After that it was all downhill for mother and all uphill for father. They were ordered to evaluation and father was awarded temporary custody in the event that mother should need to move before evaluation was not yet complete. You see, what you need to expect is that the court will hear what you have to say. So choose what you want to talk about and focus your 5 minutes.
Want to learn more about high conflict Child Custody resolution? Receive my brand new series Child Custody "Court Processes and Case Flow".
Want to learn more about handling Child Visitation issues you can find it here.
Legal Aid for child custody cases?
Can you get legal aid to help fight child custody cases if you are in receipt of benefits?
Get the answers...
how do i get a pro bono lawyer for child custody problems help us plz?
my boyfriend and his EX have a child she was 16 and he was 17 when they had there child she left him be-for the baby was 1 she said she wanted to party and in-joy her life and when she was done she would think about going back for him so he waited for her my boyfriend try-ed to Visit his child she allowed it at first but every time she got her self a new boyfriend she would not allow him to visit. Me and my boy friend met when his child was about 3 my boyfriend had been giving her cash every month when i found out i told him to give her money orders she was not happy he started to but had to leave to start work in a different city and get his GED and high school diploma (he was gone 1 1/2 years ) when he left she put child support on him (that he was fine with) but she told them he had not payed her anything (and becouse he gave her cash theres no record )so he was charged about 3 years of back support (that was about 5 -6 years ago ) were almost done paying that off but were wanting to talk to a lawyer because scene he has come back she has only let us see her a couple of hours a week at first then she let us see her on weekends but when shes dating she would not let him see his child we try-ed to be more involved in his school and she told him if you got to your childs school to pick her up (that she had agreed to let us pick her up for that weekend after school) she would call the school and tell them that he was not allowed to pick her up (she wanted to let her mom take there her) we stared to look up info on fathers rights and started to check in with the school after we found a letter she forgot to remove form his back pack that said he was missing a lot of school and going late or being picked up early to much that is was cuasing problumes but we found out this at the end of that year my boyfriend tryed to talk to her about it she got mad and didnt let us see there child for about a month or two till she needed a weekend off this year we have checked in with the teacher things are ok but he needs more help at home we me and my boyfriend do home work, math reading, wrighting and art time when he comes to vist he shows up not feed not bathed in is sleeping clothing and tierd as the night befor she drops him off she has a rooteen of keeping him up till 2 am to wach movies with him shell drop him off late and pick hm up on time (thats when she dosent go back on her work about letting us see him) we need help cant pay for a lawyer can some one let me know were we can get one pro bono thank you
im in Monterrey county in California
janet yes my spelling sucks but her dad is the one that works on the spelling im more of math area if the person that makes sure that a child is feed clean dressed in proper fitting clothing is only a legal stranger and nothing more then im happy not to be the mother who has a lot of time with her child and cant spend any of it helping her in school or taking care of her and im so sorry that with the child support, child insurance and having to keep buying new clothing, shoes, dental work and now glasses that we don't have the money to go to court were not spending it on us like the mother who is getting her hair cut dyed and is spending at lest $150 a month not including her shopping for her self or her un payed tickets im such a bad person for caring for a child i love and cant be a real mom unless i open my legs and get pregnant nice
Get the answers...
Health visitors opinion in child custody cases?
Will a health visitors opinion be taken into consideration in a child custody case where one person is trying to have the other person declared unfit. Will a health visitors testimony of reported domestic violence sway a decision?
Get the answers...
|
Next page: Child Custody Agreement
Bookmark/Share This Page:
|
|
||
Child Custody News
Preparing for a Child Custody Case GETLEGAL
Child custody is a legal term for describing the relationship and duty between a parent and child in light of situations where both parents of the ...
Court Q & A - Child Custody Mediation
Court Q & A - Child Custody Mediation - What to do when parents enter a custody battle. Join District Court Judge Martin (Marty) McGee and ...
Geo Reporty- Child Custody Case- 18 Feb 2012
LHC hands over girl to French mother
Dads Win Child Custody - Fathers Waste $500 a day in custody
video Dads Win Child Custody - Fathers Waste $500 a day in custody - www.custodywarriors.com - Child Custody for Fathers - Fathers, learn to get ...
Fox News: Child Custody Battle
California court rules woman can keep child instead of girl's biological father. Legal analyst Bob Massi discusses this issue.
Fox Interview Regarding Child Custody with Trisha Conlon and Todd DeVallance of Tsai Law Company
The following interview is with Gretchen Carlson of Fox and Friends, the No. 1 cable morning program 6-9am Eastern. Trisha Conlon and Todd ...
Child Custody Laws in Florida
www.ichatmediation.com Hi and welcome to iMediate Inc. My name is Matthew Brickman. Do you need to know the child custody laws in Florida ...
