“When we were together, sometimes we used to smoke pot. Do you think he’ll tell the judge?” In a word, yes. When you’re in the middle of a custody battle, no secrets that you used to share with your child’s father are sacred. If he knows something about you that you’d REALLY rather he didn’t...
Child Custody
It may seem counterintuitive, but in order to prove to the court that you’re the parent most fit to take custody of your child, you’re going to have to have a plan for involving your child’s father in the child’s life, too. Women who go into court with long lists of all the terrible things...
When you’re unhappy, you can’t be the mother that your children deserve. When things don’t work out with the father of your children, you experience a lot of competing emotions. For most women, the most persistent and terrifying thought is “What impact will this have on my children?” And, worse still, “what if they never...
If I were representing a man who wanted to get primary physical custody of his child, I would tell him one main thing. I would tell him to remember that a custody case begins and ends with the best interests of the child factors, and that a mom’s downfall is usually with factor number 6....
You have certain child custody rights when going through a divorce. Your marriage may be over, but as parents, that means your ex-spouse will remain a part of your life to some degree. Try your best to communicate with your ex. Don’t use your kids as messengers to carry messages back and forth, especially regarding...
When you and your child’s father were happily expecting the birth of your child, you debated whether to name her Brittany or Stephanie. Maybe you considered celebrity-inspired baby names, like “Harlow,” “Apple,” or “Suri.” Or maybe you wanted something a little more earthy or celestial, like “Willow,” “Rain,” “Aurora,” or “Aurelia.” Alternatively, you could hope...
One of the things that scares many of my clients the most is the possibility that they will be awarded shared custody. It’s true–the presumption that automatically favored moms is changing, with many judges favoring a custodial arrangement that allows both parents to spend time with the children, especially in cases where dad contests the...
Whether or not your current custody order specifies how visitation will be handled during the holiday season, it’s likely that you and your husband will have some disagreements about how it should be handled in practice. “Tradition” may seem more important to you than your separation agreement or even a court order, but your ex...