Divorce comes with its share of worry and stress. Depending on the circumstances, the legal aspects of your divorce can become intricate and this can exasperate the personal differences between the couple. This can worsen if children are involved in the divorce process.
There is no doubt that cases involving child custody can be challenging. In order to get the best possible outcome during a custody trial, it is important that you avoid the following mistakes.
Violating court orders
If you are routinely violating temporary schedules or disobeying court orders, the court will usually consider these acts of contempt. And as you can imagine, the court will not help you when it is time to make a ruling on your case. Of course, this does not mean that you should yield to a visitation schedule that does not seem to work. Before signing any consent order, it is important that you read and understand the agreement so you can identify potential problems and bring them to the court’s attention for review.
Child alienation
While it is normal for a couple that is going through a divorce to dislike each other, they should never let their difference impact the child’s relationship with either parent. Child alienation happens when one parent is deliberately attempting to influence the child’s relationship with the other parent through negative and inappropriate information. If caught, child alienation can give the court reason to eliminate any contact that the alienating parent has with the child and reward full custody to the other parent.
Disparaging remarks on social media
Next to child alienation is the reckless use of social media. Generally, talking about your divorce on social media is never a good idea. Some of the things you need to avoid doing on social media during custody trial include:
- Ranting about your spouse and the court process
- Issuing threats
- Making derogatory remarks about your ex and the court
- Posting photos of you engaging in questionable acts that the court may consider harmful to the child
In an ideal world, divorcing couples are expected to act in the best interest of their children. However, in reality, a custody case can turn ugly resulting in serious consequences. If you are caught up in a child custody tussle, be sure to stay away from these costly mistakes.