What Should You Expect During a Child Custody Hearing?

If you are in a custody battle with your child’s other parent, contact a child custody lawyer in Houston, TX as soon as possible. With the help of a lawyer, you may be able to come to an agreement that will keep you out of court. But if you do have to go to a child custody hearing, you will most certainly want a lawyer’s help to have the best shot at the outcome you want. Here’s what to expect at your hearing.

What Should You Expect During a Child Custody Hearing?

You will present this evidence, and the judge is very likely to ask you questions and may even speak with your child privately to get their opinion about the truth of the matter as well as find out who the child prefers to live with. It’s important to understand that the child does not get to make this choice. The judge makes the choice, and the child’s preference is only one small part of what the judge will consider. The older the child is and the better able they are to articulate mature reasons for their choice, the more likely the judge is to honor it. But you can rest assured that the judge is not going to award custody just because a young child has more “fun” at one parent’s house.

You and the other parent will both have the opportunity to cross-examine each other’s witnesses and challenge each other’s evidence. This must be done according to court procedure, and it must be done respectfully. It’s always best to have a lawyer do this for you. Your lawyer knows what the court is expecting and can also articulate your position and fight for your rights while staying emotionally detached enough to avoid arguments or outbursts. The better able you are to keep your cool in this hearing, the more likely you are to enjoy the favor of the court.

What the Judge Does

The judge’s responsibility in this situation is to decide what is in the best interests of the child. It’s important to bear this in mind, and your lawyer will help you to stay focused. The child’s best interests is the standard, and the needs or preferences of the parents are never the deciding factor. It’s all about what the judge believes will help your child to thrive. For this reason, the judge will need to consider quite a large number of factors.

Some of the key factors include:

• The child’s age
• Any special needs of the child
• The health of both parents
• The child’s existing relationship with each parent
• The ability of each parent to meet the child’s needs
• The financial situation of both parents
• Existing relationships that the child may have with other relatives, such as grandparents
• How the child is currently doing in school and what disrupting that might do
• The preferences of the child
• Any history of abuse, neglect, or substance abuse
• The ability and willingness of both parents to coparent effectively

There are many other factors that the judge may consider, depending on your case. A lawyer will be able to give you specifics and help you understand what to expect.

Presenting Your Evidence

One of the key functions of your lawyer is to present your evidence clearly and in an organized way. Your lawyer knows what the courts are looking for and how they will evaluate your arguments. As you present evidence, it’s very important to stick to the facts. It’s essential not to make any claims that you can’t support, particularly if these are claims of abuse, neglect, or unfitness on the part of the other parent. The court takes these accusations extremely seriously because they affect the child. That also means the court takes false accusations just as seriously, because they see this as an attempt to interfere with a child’s best interests by disturbing their relationship with the other parent.

You also need to be prepared to answer questions about your evidence and the testimony that’s been given as you are cross-examined by the other parent’s lawyer. Being cross-examined is always a difficult experience, and your lawyer will help you prepare for this properly.

Cross-Examination

Not only will your evidence have to be presented, but you will also need to challenge whatever evidence the other parent is bringing. This needs to be done in a professional way and with respect. There can be no outbursts of anger or frustration, no matter how untrue the testimony may be. Second, you may have to be prepared for the other parent’s attempt to frame evidence in a certain way. You can expect them to position the evidence in such a way as to put themselves in the best light and you in the worst: and that’s a best-case scenario. In a worst-case scenario, the other parent may even be lying and presenting evidence deceitfully in order to “win.”

Your lawyer will have seen this sort of thing many times and will know how to cross-examine the other parent properly as well as rebut their arguments and evidence.

Potential Outcomes

It’s important to be thoroughly prepared for the variety of outcomes that could result from the hearing, and your lawyer will help you here by letting you know what’s most likely. The courts prefer to grant joint custody whenever possible because this is usually assumed to be in the child’s best interests. If you are arguing for sole custody, it will be important to prove exactly why this is better for the child.

If one of you is given sole custody, then you have both physical and legal custody of the child, meaning not only does the child live with you, but you make the decisions about the major issues in your child’s life. Even in the case of sole custody, however, the other parent is typically granted visitation rights unless there’s a reason that this would be dangerous for the child.

With joint custody, you’ll share both physical custody and decision-making responsibility for your child. This requires a parenting plan that will outline what responsibilities each parent has and a schedule for when the child spends time with each parent. It may also specify how to deal with special situations, the primary methods of communication, and even where drop offs and pick ups should happen.

Your custody hearing is an important moment, and you want to be as prepared as you can be. Contact the Clark Law Firm, P.C. today in Houston and let’s talk through your case and how we can help.