Worried About Losing Custody in Massachusetts?
No matter where you live in Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, or Norfolk County, child custody battles are some of the most difficult cases during a divorce. Accusations and finger pointing add to an already difficult situation. The Boston Child Custody Attorneys at The Massachusetts Family Law Group know the powerful strategies to winning custody of your child.
Call Our Attorneys Now – For a FREE, No-Obligation Consultation
We'll share with you the determining factors judges are looking for when making custody decisions, which strategies work better than others, and the biggest mistakes most parents make that hurt their case most. Call (800) 763-1030, or e-mail us to sign-up for a consultation at our or Norwood offices.
How to Lose Custody
In contentious custody battles, the parents who end-up losing are the ones who:
- Use their children as pawns in the great chess game with the other parent
- Won't cooperate with the Guardian Ad Litem in a custody evaluation
- Make false accusations about his or her spouse, and later get caught
- Show a lack of control and not possessing the requisite amount of impulse control
- Disparage the other parent in front of the child
- Demonstrate alcohol, drugs, or substance abuse problems
- Cannot, or will not, stay involved in their children's lives
- Interfere with reasonable phone contact between the children and other parent
- Withhold visitation and parenting time with the other parent
- Are overly intrusive or controlling as it relates to events with the other parent
Custody Strategies That Work!
- Hire the right lawyer, with the right experience, knowledge and training. Ask anybody who's been through it before, and he or she will tell you that hiring the most experienced and aggressive lawyer you can may be the most important action that you can take. Without the right lawyer nothing seems to work out as well – no matter how much work you put into your case.
- Make a list of the other person's weaknesses as it relates to their parenting skills. The other person is usually your spouse or former spouse, but may be grandparents, foster parents, siblings, or even the Commonwealth through the Department of Children and Family (DCFS).
- Make a list of the other person's strengths. This is really important. It is too easy to concentrate on the other person's weaknesses and what they do wrong. Be realistic and focus on the things that they do well, and how those may be viewed to be "the best interest" of the child.
- Make a list of your strengths.
- Make a list of your weaknesses. Be brutally honest. Only you and your lawyer will see the list.
- Realize that custody is determined based on only what is best for the child. When you and your ex-spouse (or opposing party) try to decide about custody or when a court makes a decision, the primary consideration should be what will benefit the child most.
- Ask yourself which parent truly has the most time available to spend with the child. Courts prefer to give custody to the parent who can be with the child most. Time with a parent is preferred to time with a sitter.
- Write out a proposed Parenting Plan. List everything that you want as if you will be able to get everything that you want. Know that you won't get everything, but making this list is a good start. Don't forget a detailed schedule for holidays and vacation periods.
- Make a list of your bargaining chips.
- Find out if the judge assigned to your case has specific prejudices (blond hair, women or men, successful women, athletic-looking men, etc.).
- Decide if the other person may make false allegations in court. What would they be?
- Make a list by subject of the important things you have not told your lawyer. You don't want any surprises in court. List bankruptcy, affairs, fights, DUI arrests – everything!
Our Winning Formula and Unique Strategy
Since our attorneys are assigned to a specific region and set of courthouses, we know how policies and procedures are handled in each courtroom, and you can count on the fact that we know how each judge tends to work.
Instead of being dependent on a single attorney, you get an entire team backed by our statewide network of carefully recruited family law attorneys working together to watch your back, stand-up to your spouse, and prevail in the courtroom. When you become a client, our entire team is available to you at a moment's notice – 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Each of our attorneys is available on Blackberries and are available to answer your questions by phone or e-mail anytime - not just during office hours!
When you are involved in custody-related matters, your chief concern is winning – protecting your children and providing them with what is best for them. The aggressive and experienced custody attorneys at The Massachusetts Family Law Group do everything possible to achieve the best possible outcome the first time around, because appeals are rarely won. For a FREE, no-obligation consultation, call (800) 763-1030 or e-mail us.
