First off, you should expect that the judge is going to expect that you’re going to be prepared to present your case. You need to think about logistics. In other words, if you are arguing that you should have the children most of the time, the judge is going to want to know whether or not you realistically can get them to where they need to be, when they need to be there. Can you get them to school on time? Can you pick them up from school on time? Does your work schedule support what you’re asking the court to do?
Other things that you need to have prepared when going to court in a child custody case are child support worksheet, so in other words, have you run the child support worksheet? Do you know what child support is going to be? Do you know what the work related or education related daycare costs are? Do you know what the health insurance premiums are going to be? Honestly, I would encourage you to hire an attorney if you’re going to go to court for a child custody case. There are a lot of moving parts involved, and it’s very difficult for people to go in and explain their story to a judge in a coherent and intelligent manner and present their case.
I have a lot of people come see me after they’ve done their own child custody case, and they have botched it, and they are looking to me to fix it and it’s a lot more expensive to fix it after the fact than it is to get good legal representation going into it. If you are actually going to have to go to a contested hearing for your child custody case, I would urge you to go and talk to a lawyer, hire a lawyer if you can financially afford that. Make an appointment with me. Come in and talk with me. I’ll give you practical advice in what to do and how to proceed and get the best possible result for your child custody case.
