Positioning Yourself for Success in Family Court

There are actions you can take now to increase your chances of success in your family court hearing.

Hi I'm Wendy Hernandez and in this video I’m going to give you a few real world examples of ways to increase your chances of success in your divorce or custody case:

Let’s say your ex-spouse is alleging that you have mental health issues or a mental health issue and you are denying it. One thing you can do to squash that accusation or allegation is go out and get a psychiatric evaluation. These evaluations do come at a cost however you could save money from the get go instead of having to fight this custody or divorce battle for months.

Now it may be that you do have some type of mental health condition but there is no shame in that. In that case you would show the other party what the condition was and what kind of treatment you are receiving and that you are complying with a course of treatment the doctor has prescribed for you.

By going above and beyond you are positioning yourself and showing the judge that you are not trying to hide anything and you are doing it what it takes to either squash the allegation or that you are complying with a course of treatment.

Another case might be that one party is accused of having a drug addiction and when a client comes to me and tells me that he or she is going to be accused of smoking pot or doing meth, etc. As their family law attorney the first thing I tell my client is to go get a drug test. And to do a hair-follicle drug test to show that there are no drugs in their system for months going back. My clients will often complain that why should they have to get a drug test to prove their not taking drugs when they aren’t. But I suggest that if you want to put these allegations to rest why not go above and beyond, get the drug test and squash the false allegation so that you can get along with the real issues in your case.

If you are in a custody case and the other party is saying that they do not think you would do a good job at co-parenting and joint custody would not be in the best interest of the child or children, you should start doing communicating and sharing information about your child with the other side through email, text or whatever form of communication works best for you. Tell them for example how they are doing in school or if you know there is a school event coming up, remind them about it. Talk with the other parent and get on the same page with them…have conversations and meetings. In other words be the one to extend the olive branch so to speak.

As hard as this might be and as difficult as your ex might be, just your effort alone will show the judge in your custody case what you are willing to do in the best interest of your child.

Should you do what the judge tells you to do even when you don’t agree with the judge? Depending on where you are a judge or a jury will probably be the one deciding your case. If you are in a State where the judge makes the final decision then you really don’t want to make the judge mad. No, judges are not perfect and they don’t know everything. They do make mistakes…sometimes they may not understand the facts and make rulings based on not understanding the facts. This is true.

But by not following the judge’s order especially if it is a temporary order, then you are putting yourself at risk of upsetting the judge. And when it comes time for the judge to make his or her final decision, they may be less inclined to see it your way, The judge may not give you the benefit of the doubt not only in the case that is pending but also for years to come. The choice is yours. It is understandable if you don’t agree with the judge on principle and it is your perogative if you want to go against what the judge orders. But know that if you do there will be consequences in your child custody case, you may be held in contempt of court and it would not be in the best interest of the children.

Set yourself up for success by going above and beyond even if you don’t agree with the judge’s rulings. Especially in the case of children you should do whatever it takes to put allegations or accusations to rest quickly.