Divorce is among the number one reason that leads parents to end up in court over who gets to have full custody over their children. In most cases, the dads fall victim. The courts always end up giving custody to the mother. Below are some points that will assist you as a dad if by chance you happen to get yourself in a court situation where one of the parents has to stay with the kids. Our expert advice is based on what we could remember from a discussion from a top Birmingham divorce attorney in Alabama.
1. Be involved in your children’s life. As a father, it’s very important to be a part of your children’s life. Of course you will need to be sure of what you want to fight for when your custody case goes to court. For full time custody, a dad will need to show his full commitment to the kids from the very first day. The court has to see your commitment to the children. In court, the judge will schedule a hearing in which he/she will order both parents to attend mediations on how they can solve their dispute outside court for the children’s sake. In other cases, the judge can appoint a personal investigator to make a follow up on how both parents are doing. This is the point where you will be required to be at your best in order to win over both the children’s love and the courts favor.
2. Hire an attorney who understands. The key point here is to understand that in most cases the court has been known to favor women over men. To win the custody case, make sure that you have researched enough and that your current attorney has won previous cases of custody. He or she has to have clear knowledge on how to approach this custody case so in the long run you can end up with kids and not the mum. Let him/her file a court petition stating clearly as to why you should be given the kids. Make sure that you have provided your attorney with all the information he/she needs then proceed to paying the filing fee. Make sure to follow all the legal procedures as family law is known to be complex and does not entertain parents who think custody cases are a joke.
3. Money should not be an issue. For men, once you bring up money issues in court, then your case changes from a caring parent to a parent who wants to pay less child support. What you should in a case like this is to show the court that the best decision the court can make is to allow you to be the sole protector of the kid. States like Alabama will consider both your mental state and how financially stable you are. If for instance you happen to have been violent in your past life, chances are you might lose full custody of the kid. Alabama is not for its strict policy of not allowing a violent parent to have custody
5. Consider the kids. Conflicts between parents have been known to affect the kids physiologically. If by chance you win the case against your ex, then the best approach is to cut your ex some slack. Allow the EX to see the kids on her scheduled time without causing Drama. Doing this will favor you greatly in case the EX decides to go back to court to fight over custody. How you conduct yourself before and after the courts determines a lot on how the court will rule. The kids don’t need the drama.
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