When faced with a child custody dispute, you’ll need to be ready to present evidence that speaks to your child’s best interests since this is the standard the court will use to issue its determination. It’s a broad standard that can cover a lot of ground. While this gives you multiple areas of potential argument, it can also make it challenging to hone your argument. That’s why a lot of parents get tangled up in the weeds of their case and wind up levying personal attacks rather than making arguments that are truly relevant to their child’s best interests.
So, how can you target your arguments to your child’s best interests? Let’s take a closer look at where you might find helpful evidence to support your custody case so that you know where to start looking as you craft your legal strategy.
Where to look for evidence to support a best interest argument
There isn’t one way to gather and present evidence that speaks to your child’s best interests. Therefore, you’ll want to take a holistic approach. To do so, consider the following evidence and whether you can utilize it in your case:
- A parenting journal: By keeping a journal of your parenting activities, you can give a realistic perspective of the role you’ve played in your children’s lives up to this point. This can also help demonstrate the bond that you have with your children, your engagement in their activities and your willingness to foster a meaningful relationship between your children and their other parent.
- Witness testimony: Although you might hope that your own testimony about your relationship with your child will be enough to sway the judge to side with you, the other parent is going to do everything in their power to attack your credibility. Therefore, it might be better to seek out unbiased witnesses who can speak to your interactions with your child and the bond that you have with them.
- Documentary evidence: Sometimes documents can play a pivotal role in your case. This might include your child’s medical and educational records that show that you’re better suited to meet your child’s needs on a full-time basis. Financial records might also be important to show that you have the means to support your child and meet their basic needs.
- The other parent’s shortcomings: While you don’t want your custody case to devolve into personal attacks, sometimes it’s necessary to highlight the other parent’s parental shortcomings. For example, social media posts or police reports showing that the other parent struggles with drug or alcohol addiction can be powerful in your custody case. Be thorough here, but also remember to couch your arguments as being in the child’s best interests. Refrain from merely making personal attacks without specifying how the issue at hand impacts your child’s safety or overall well-being.
Aggressively advocate to protect your child’s best interests
The outcome of your child custody dispute can have significant ramifications for your child for a long time to come. It can also dictate what your relationship with your child will look like moving forward. With so much at stake, you have to develop comprehensive and aggressive legal arguments that speak to the legal standard at hand. We realize that can be tough to do, especially when you’re new to the legal arena, but that’s why it might be helpful to educate yourself more fully on the process and seek out any additional guidance that you may need. Hopefully then you’ll secure an outcome that truly protects your child’s best interests.