Lewisville:  Frisco:
Flower Mound:
    •    Lewisville: (469) 948-4764
    •    Frisco: (214) 269-9601
    •    Flower Mound: (469) 817-3273

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Blog of David Heiman - Family Law Attorney - Divorce Lawyer

How Child Custody Cases are Won (Part 3)

In the first installment of this series, entitled “How Child Custody Cases are Won (Part 1),” we went over the specific factors which a Judge will use to decide our custody case. Next, in Part 2, we focused on our initial case presentation, such as: letting the Judge know up-front about the specific rulings that we want the court to make at the end of the hearing; and, explaining how parenting has been done in this family up until now. If you have not yet read those posts (or if you have read them, but could use a refresher), then you should refer back to those earlier writings, (linked above) before reading Part 3. That will help you put the new information presented here into proper context.

In this piece, the third installment of this series, we will discuss some other evidence that will be helpful to winning our case.

What Harm May Result If Your Requests are Denied

By this point in our case, the Judge has already heard from us about your family’s relevant history, and what we think is best for your kids going forward. We have also discussed your plan for parenting the children, if the court awards you custody of your children. It is now important for the Judge to become aware of any problems, hardships, or dangers that your children might experience if our requests are not granted. We do this initially through your testimony; but, since the other parent is unlikely to agree with all of that testimony, we also need to present additional evidence to the court of those potential problems, hardships, or dangers.

So, for example, if not granting child custody to you will cause your children to: move away from their friends and school; spend significant time without adult supervision; or, perhaps, be exposed to inappropriate experiences or circumstances (such as drug abuse, drunk driving, or other criminal activity); then, properly-presented evidence (such as photographs, social media postings, admissions of the other party, police reports, or eye witness testimony) can demonstrate these bad circumstances for the Judge, and make it clearer why our requests should be granted. Of course, that evidence won’t be entered unless we are able to first lay a proper predicate for it, so please let us know about that kind of evidence as soon as possible. That way, we can take the steps necessary to allow us to use it in court.

Help Available to You

Often, people going through a child custody case will have the support and assistance of relatives, friends, and neighbors to assist them with being a single parent of their children. If this is true for you, then the court needs to hear about it. Of course, you should testify about this help, but having those other people present in court to also testify about their willingness to help you with your children is even better! That way, the Judge will get to meet and listen to the people who are willing to help you when you need it. The Judge gets to see who they are, as well as evaluate them as credible people. And, their testimony will confirm to the court that what you are saying about their willingness and ability to help you is, in fact, true.

Children’s Best Interest

As discussed previously, the bottom-line ruling of the court is based on the Best Interest of the child or children before the court. By presenting the information discussed in the earlier posts, along with the additional evidence discussed above, the Judge should be able to see that our plan is what is best for your children.

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About Us

The Heiman Law Firm provides professional family law services in cases such as divorce, child custody, child support, CPS, adoption and more. We have been proudly serving clients, primarily in Denton County, for over 25 years.

Office Hours

Monday-Friday - By Appointment Only
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday Appointments Available

DFW Office Locations

Lewisville, Texas
405 State Highway 121 Byp Ste A250
Lewisville, TX 75067

  (469) 948-4764

Frisco, Texas
2770 Main Street Ste 179
Frisco, TX 75033

  (214) 269-9601

Flower Mound, Texas
2201 Spinks Rd
Flower Mound, TX 75022

  (469) 817-3273

  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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