Advice For You On How To Win Custody As A Father

Despite many best efforts, there remains a legal and sociological preference for children to be raised with their mother. This creates a high burden for fathers to overcome when petitioning for physical custody. Even so, there are valuable suggestions on how to win custody as a father. Custody is a legal proceeding and you don't have to navigate it without the right attorney by your side. Because of the maternal bias, some people seem to think that having a female family law attorney will help improve your case. Regardless of whether that's true, what will be more likely to improve your case is hiring an attorney who has successfully gained custody for fathers in other cases. Another area where the right attorney is invaluable is in knowing the preferences and quirks of the judges. Judges are people too and their individual personalities and biases can affect your case. They also have legal preferences in terms of arguments and evidence they find persuasive and those they don't. The right attorney with experience in your jurisdiction should know well each judge and how they run their specific courtroom. Turning to the substance of your case, you will want to show a positive relationship between you and your children. You should be as active in their lives as possible, from school to community organizations to their religious upbringing. It can also be helpful to document your presence in their lives through photo albums and videos. This will not only prove your present with them, but give the judge a chance to see you interact with them naturally. In addition to the visual evidence, paper documentation can also be helpful. This would certainly include receipts for any purchases you make while with your children (dinner) or for them (tuition). If you find that you have to pay for things that their mother should be buying with your child support checks, then take special care to document that. These types of purchases can show that the mother isn't living up to her responsibilities, while you are. Since you will probably have to show that the children aren't being well cared for with their mother, you'll need as much evidence of that as you can get. Your stories or suspicions won't likely have much weight. You can talk to neighbors to get a sense of what's going on at the home when you're not there. If it makes sense, these neighbors might also be good witnesses. Your own behavior will be important as well. It can be easy to lose your temper during a custody battle, and there might even be times where it would be perfectly understandable. However, you'll want to remember that getting angry isn't likely to help your case. Courts rely heavily on the evaluations of the professionals with whom you'll have to meet, like psychologists and social workers. Even if you feel humiliated for having to meet with them, it will be more helpful for you to focus on your goal of having your children. Trying to gain physical custody of your children will likely be a challenging experience. That doesn't mean you're helpless. These tips on how to win custody as a father are the place to start.