Don't Make Playing Games Part of Your Strategy in a Custody Battle

Is harassing, annoying or embarrassing the other party in your custody case part of your strategy?

If it is, you need to rethink your strategy. When you are involved in a custody case, a lot of it is about strategizing. You have to decide what moves you are going to make and take reasoned action. To that end then, a custody case or family law case is in a sense, a game.

But the games I am talking about are the games where the intentions are harassing or annoying or embarrassing the other side. This does happen in my cases from time to time because their are family law attorneys who like to play 'below the belt' games.

As a family law attorney my strategy is resolving the case in a way that serves my client and serves the best interest of the children. So if I have a client who wants to do things or proceed in ways simply because they think it will harm the other parent in some way, embarrassing, humiliating them. That is just a bad idea. Bad Karma is not a legal term but it playing these type of games can backfire on you.

Winning is really about doing the best in your case and aiming for a result that is reasonable and fair and in the best interest of the children. I just had a case recently where a party had taken some action and it was done only to frustrate my client and to hopefully 'starve' her out, meaning till she runs of out of money and has to let her attorney go.

Nothing is fair in war, I know, but if you are not fair and the judge sees how you've been unfair and unreasonable, when it all comes down to it, you could end up paying the other party's attorney fees and costs. And that's a scary thing. I have had client's who have had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees to the other side that has literally forced them into bankruptcy. I've also had the other party pay MY client's attorney fees and cost because of their unreasonable behavior.

That is just one of the sanctions you could face by playing these games which are just not above board. So when you are in the middle of your custody case, really get it into your mind what it is you want and what tactics and tools you could use to support your desires. What evidence can you present to convince the judge or the other party that what you're asking for is fair and is in the best interest of the children. It never hurts to be above board.

With that being said, there are times when 'Good Guys finish last' and I have seen that happen plenty times and that is the scary thing about court. Family law court can be a gamble but conducting your case above board will give you a better chance of getting a better result for your family and you put an end to your case sooner rather than later.