Your Child Custody Agreement - How to Impress Everyone in Custody Court

[Theresa Chenoweth]

Picture this: it's the day you go to court for your child custody
agreement. You walk into the courtroom and hand the judge and your ex
and the lawyer folders. The judge looks inside the folder and sees
every document for the child custody agreement all in order. There is
a calendar that is colored coded for the time each parent has with the
child. There is a document with the time-share percentage calculated
on it. There are the documents that give all the stipulations for the
agreement--and you've gone into detail about what is and isn't
appropriate for your child. As everyone looks through your documents
there are audible impressive gasps. People like what they see...and do
you hear the smattering of applause?
Okay, the last part might be a little far fetched. But, every divorced
parent wants to impress the judge and the court when they go in and
present their child custody agreements. And, even if you aren't going
before a judge, you want to have an agreement to present to your ex
that you can both agree on. Creating the right child custody agreement
is absolutely vital--this is the document that dictates the time you
will spend with your child. It also shows how much you will pay or
receive in child support. So, you want to impress everyone with your
child visitation agreement so they will agree to it.
If you want to impress everyone in the courtroom, the most important
thing you can is to be prepared. Do your homework and invest the time
and energy into creating a fair calendar. Divide the holidays fairly
between you and your ex, and figure out the best schedule for your
kids. Remember that the court is most interested in accepting an
agreement that looks in the best interest of the children. So, don't
present an agreement that is entirely one-sided. Show that you have
thought through the best scenarios to reach the best conclusions about
where your children should spend their time.
Along with creating the calendar, give some thought to other
stipulations you want to include in the child custody agreement. Do
you want your ex to smoke around the children? If you don't, add that
in as a stipulation. Do you want your ex to be able to get the child a
passport without your knowledge? You may want to include a stipulation
about that. There are so many things to think through--but it looks
very impressive if you have your agreement thought out in such detail.
You may want to look into purchasing a child custody software that
allows you print calendars and other court documents. There are even
custody software programs that allow you to add stipulations by
checking them--then you can print it all out.
The more prepared you are, the better off you'll be when it comes time
to present your child custody agreement. You'll feel more confident
about your plan--and that confidence will help you present in a
positive way. If you can print good qualities of all your documents
that helps as well. This way you can walk into court feeling self
assured and ready when you hand your documents to everyone in court.