Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Win Your Child Custody Battle

By Dianna Nelsun

Most divorced parents want to avoid a custody battle if it is possible. These are the parents who are looking out for their child's best interest and try to come up with an agreement based on their child's needs. They try to discuss issues reasonably with the other parent.

Parents can find themselves in the middle of a child custody battle before they know it. Often, the child's other parent will take steps to support a selfish agenda of revenge. These steps can include talking negatively about the other parent or being completely unreasonable about custody time.

Divorced parents need to know what to do in a battle so they can protect their child. Hopefully they can prevent a negative situation from happening, but if they can't prevent it they can at least learn how to deal with it. Here are three ideas to help you win your custody battle.

1. Take action and don't wait for the other parent. Don't wait around while the other parent does things like hire a lawyer and file for child custody. Take initiative and act. Figure out if you're going to need an attorney, know the documents you need to file, keep track of custody and visitation time, etc.

You basically need to begin the whole case with the thought that it could turn into a battle. You want to be levelheaded, of course, but you need to take the steps to cover yourself if things get nasty. Don't assume that your former spouse will be reasonable.

Too many parents don't get a fair custody agreement because they expected the other parent to be reasonable and they were sorely mistaken. Don't let the other parent give you an unpleasant surprise about their sneakiness. Take action quickly.

2. Keep track of appropriate information. You are going to need a lot of documents to show your case in court. As soon as your divorce goes through you need to be keeping track of how much time each parent is spending with the child, all of your financial information regarding the children, and you'll need any statements about custody.

3. Endure to the end. It can be easy to get overwhelmed and depressed in a custody battle. Keep fighting though. Try different strategies for getting time with your kids. Maybe you need to get a different attorney at some point. Remember your kids and that it is worth all of the hassle to get to be with them.

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