How to Prepare a Child Custody Case in 6 Steps

Every child custody case will differ based on the evidence, but there’s one crucial factor every person entering a custody trial should consider: getting as prepared as possible.

Whether you’re dealing with a high-conflict child custody battle, narcissistic ex, or a standard child custody case doesn't matter.

Prayer for child custody will help you however, you have the best chances of a favorable outcome by doing your due diligence; you’re already beginning that process if you’re reading this.

Here’s how to prepare, organize, and evaluate evidence for your child custody case (regardless of whether you have an attorney or where you live): 

1. Determine the Law in Your Jurisdiction

Custody laws widely differ by state. Massachusetts generally does not consider the child's wishes in custody cases.

In Michigan, the courts will consider the child's wishes during a custody trial — this can be used to your benefit if you live in a state that considers your child’s wishes. But how do you find the law in your state? 

Judge Anthony says, “First, you need to determine what the law is in your particular area so you can find out exactly what factors a judge will look for when determining your custody case. I’m going to use my home state of Pennsylvania as an example, but you can use a similar method for your state. Say I want to determine what the law is in Pennsylvania, I’m going to type in ‘Pennsylvania custody factors’ into a Google search.” 

It’s not as simple as selecting the first thing that pops up, though. When you use a search engine to look for anything, you will get hundreds (if not thousands) of results.

When looking for the law, it’s especially important to skip over any random blogs or websites and look strictly for the law. How do you find the websites with the actual law when skimming through your Google searches?

You should look for headlines that include the name of the law — these are often found on government websites (like your state’s official website). 

2. Read Each Factor (or Section) of Your Law

Once you find the factors a judge looks for in a custody case in your state, you should scroll through the entire document to determine which factors are relevant to your case.

When skimming through the document, it would be particularly helpful to identify which factors are favorable to you and unfavorable to the other side. 

3. Confirm That You’re Reading the Current Law

You need to ensure you’re getting accurate information and reading the current law. To verify that you’re reading the actual law, you can ask your lawyer or contact your local judge’s chambers. 

While a judge’s chambers can’t provide legal advice, you can call and ask them if you’re reading the current law.

The best method is to tell the clerk that you don’t want to waste the judge’s time and just want to ensure you’re looking at the right law.

Try to be specific when asking about the law! Please keep in mind that you aren’t guaranteed results using this method, but you have a good chance of getting answers. 

4. List Evidence That’s Favorable to Your Case

Now that you’ve found the law and verified it’s the current law, it’s time to find each relevant factor to your case and list each piece of evidence.

Once you list each individual piece of evidence, you should list which witness can testify to that and which piece of physical evidence can prove that.

For those who may have missed How to Testify Effectively in a Custody Case to get an idea about doing the right things to win a case.

Witnesses and physical evidence are key factors in determining the outcome of your child custody case. 

Under each piece of physical evidence, you should list which witness you’ll need to present that particular physical evidence.

You’ll need to determine the best witness to lay the foundation, authenticate, and present that physical evidence.

It might be a good idea to explain child custody to your child. If you don’t know how to explain custody to a child, you can read our post on the topic.

5. Learn the Courtroom Objections

You should learn the objections for your rules of evidence in your jurisdiction. To go into the courtroom prepared, knowing how the other side will attempt to keep the evidence out is helpful.

You’ll want to have your arguments ready, so you can overcome any objections they might make. 

6. Prepare Your Lists

Finally, you should make a list of witnesses and physical evidence to keep yourself organized and prepared.

Make sure to contact each witness to ensure they can appear at your custody trial. Your evidence should be completely organized for trial! 

When you go to trial, you’ll have a higher likelihood of a favorable outcome by using all of the evidence you’ve listed and any other evidence you can use to attack the other side’s credibility.

If you want to know How To Win A Custody Case With A Narcissist, just follow these tips and I’m sure you'll have a great of winning the case.