At the office of Robert G. Spaugh, Attorney at Law, we want to help you make the strongest possible child custody case, whether you are arguing that you deserve full custody or increased visitation rights. Our team has extensive experience working in this area of family law, and we know a thing or two about how to argue such cases effectively. In this article, we’ll go over three tips for building a strong child custody case.
- Show that Your Children are Better Off with You- When building a child custody case, you should always strive to show the court that your children will be better off living with you. The judge will consider a variety of factors when awarding custody rights, from the safety of the parents’ homes to the strength of the parents’ relationships to the children, and you should try to showcase why you are the better choice on as many of these points as possible.
- Show Why Your Ex Does Not Serve Your Children’s Best Interests- On the flip side, you should also be trying to show why your ex is a worse choice when it comes to serving your children’s best interests. To do this, you can use the civil discovery process to request things like employment records, criminal history, and child welfare evaluations on your ex, collecting evidence that proves that they can’t provide a high-quality environment for the children.
- Request a Neutral Third-Party Investigation- Another thing you can do to build a strong child custody case is to request a neutral third party who will investigate both you and your ex and make a recommendation to the court based on their findings. This person will likely interview your friends and family, as well as your children’s pediatrician or teachers, and may also make surprise visits to each home as part of the investigation.