Texas Child Custody Law
If you are getting into a custody battle - in Texas or
in any place in the world - the key thing to aim for is
to avoid taking it to court.
Certainly there are some cases where a court case is unavoidable,
but in so many cases the only real winners are the legal
professionals, who are paid handsomely for their work in helping an
estranged couple tear eachother to pieces.
Make no mistake about it, when a custody dispute goes to court
it is always a dirty business. Your chances of winning
depend entirely upon your ability to convince the judge that you are
a fit and capable parent, while your former partner is as
incompetant and unloving as a care-giver as you are competant
and compassionate.
Certainly there are times when, for the sake of the
safety of the child, the failings of your former partner need to be put on public record,
but in the vast majority of cases, if you can resist the temptation
to try and publicly humiliate your former spouse, you will
have far better dealings with him or her in the years ahead, and
that is going to benefit everyone - you, your ex, and your little
ones.
What many people don't realise is that there are alternatives to
court. You can work through the issues yourselves, and you can
get official mediators to help you work them through, without having
to have it turn into a legal nightmare.
Further, if you can find a good lawyer, he or she can do most of the
hack work for you, and help lead you to a firm and legal agreement
that will serve the interests of you and your children, without the
case needing to be heard in court, and without it needing to be
astronomically expensive.
Your first goal should be to become informed about your options.
Read the relevant articles on this site, and try to understand the
basic parameters of the law. And then find yourself a good
lawyer - ideally not one who will lead you into a bloody and expensive legal
battle, but one who will help you avoid one.
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