3 Things to Avoid during a Child Custody Battle
Divorce can already be a hard enough time for anyone without the daunting challenge of deciding which parent will be given custody of their children. Child custody battles are common among divorcees and not knowing much about how proceedings work can put you at a disadvantage when trying to get custody of your child. Here are some important things to know to avoiding doing when going through proceedings for child custody.
Don't Make the Case about Your Spouse
Child custody, at its core, seeks to find what's best for the child and this often determines who the child will end up with primarily. The knee jerk reaction can be to smear your spouse's reputation, especially during messier divorces. However, you should instead focus on how you can benefit the child most despite the feelings you may harbor about your partner. Constantly smearing the other partner in the relationship might lead to the judge feeling like you only want custody to spite the other party, which can have a severe negative impact on your chances for achieving custody.
As such, try to remain civil with your partner and don't openly display any hostilities you might have as this can make you seem less level-headed and in turn weigh negatively on how the court views you as a person.
Don't Bring Up Mental Problems
It can be expected that you might need to talk to a psychologist or mental health therapist when going through a divorce and custody battle as the whole process can be draining on your mental health. However, you shouldn't bring up any of these problems during a court hearing. It might seem like at first that this will make you appear more sympathetic to the court. However, directly claiming to have any sort of mental disorder or inability to cope with the situation will put you at risk for not gaining custody of your child as it makes you seem unstable and more likely to not be able to provide for your child emotionally.
Don't Immediately Move in with a New Partner
Divorce is already hard on children as they often have to grapple with the idea of why they are no longer going to be living with both their parents. As such, it can be equally distressing to suddenly have a new person thrown into the mix. Courts are often aware of how this sudden change can affect the child's well-being and it can and will factor into the decision that is made. So, even if you are seeing someone, you should definitely wait to introduce them into the child's life after everything is finalized. It'll be best for all parties this way.
So, hopefully, by knowing these three things not to do when fighting for child custody you can help avoid hampering your case regardless of whether or not you are the mother or the father of the child.