How to Prepare for a Consultation With a Child Custody Attorney

If you anticipate being in a custody battle, it’s vital to have an attorney working on your case. An attorney will make sure that your rights are protected and that you can present a plan to the courts that works for you and is clearly in the best interests of your child. When you have your first consultation with an Austin, TX child custody attorney, here are some of the things you should do to prepare.

How to Prepare for a Consultation With a Child Custody Attorney in Austin, TX

Research the Attorney

Do your due diligence. Make sure you’re choosing an attorney who has lots of experience here in the Austin, TX area. It’s important that the attorney know Texas law; it’s equally important that the attorney have experience with the Austin family courts. The courts follow the law, but the courts also each have their own unique flavor, and various judges have various preferences about how things are done in their courtroom.

When you work with an experienced attorney who knows the Austin courts, you’ll be well-prepared for all court regulations and how to conduct yourself throughout the case. Obviously, you also want an attorney who can take a custody case to court and win it. But negotiation and mediation are a big part of child custody cases, and it’s also important that your attorney be skilled at helping parents come up with agreements, even if things are contentious. Look for a lawyer with a good track record in both directions so you have the help you need no matter what turn your case may take.

Prepare a List of Questions

Next, it’s important to make a list of all the questions you want to ask your attorney. Even if you think you know what questions you would like to ask already, make a list and write them down. It’s too easy to forget an important question in the moment, as you get distracted by the answers to other questions or other thoughts that suddenly come to mind. Some of the important questions you should ask might include:

• How long is this likely to take?
• What kind of factors are the courts going to take into consideration as they determine custody?
• How can I strengthen my case?
• How can you help me deal with the other parent if they’re causing trouble?
• How much is this likely to cost, and what are your fees specifically?
• When I talk to your office, whom will I normally be speaking with?
• If I have an emergency need, whom should I contact and how?
• What kind of documents and other evidence am I going to need?
• What are the filing fees and court costs in these situations?
• If the child’s other parent wants to drag this out and is contentious, how long might this take?
• Do you have any suggestions for support groups or therapists who can help me or my child during this time?

Think Through Your Priorities and Plans

You, like the courts, are focused on what’s in the best interests of your child. That’s great in the abstract, but what does that mean in the specifics? What does your “child’s best interests” look like, day-to-day, as they live their life and interact with you and their other parent? And how do the child’s best interests fit with your needs and realities, such as your job, income, housing situation, and your own mental and physical health?

While you may not be able to answer all these questions thoroughly until you have a chance to talk to a lawyer, you should at least start thinking through them so you can have the most profitable conversation with your lawyer. Your lawyer can listen to your thoughts and ideas, help you understand what the courts will be looking at, and then evaluate your priorities to decide which are reasonable, where you might need to compromise, and if there’s something you’re missing that you should be fighting for.

It’s also worth thinking through what kind of plan would work for you in terms of custody, as well as what child support you might need. If you’re fighting a parent who is determined to get sole custody and keep it from you, you need to think through how hard you want to fight and what evidence you have that can show why it’s unreasonable or a violation of your parental right to have an important say in your child’s life. The more you’ve thought through all of these issues, the better conversation you’ll be able to have with your attorney.

Gather All the Evidence You Can

Whatever evidence you have that can help with your plans and priorities, bring it along to your meeting. For example, if you have police reports showing abuse by the other parent, this is an important piece of evidence. If you have texts or emails from the other parent that show them threatening you or the child, refusing to cooperate with you, or attempting to alienate your child from you, bring that along, too. On the other hand, if you had a substance abuse problem in the past and know that the other parent will try to use this against you, you might bring evidence of successfully completing a substance abuse treatment program.

Other important evidence will be financial information, information about the home that you rent or own, details about your child’s living space in that home, and the location of your child’s school and records showing your involvement in your child’s school life. The testimony of witnesses can be very helpful, especially if they’re third-party witnesses, like a teacher or therapist, who can testify to your parenting skills or to how your child reacts after spending time with the other parent. If you regularly spend time with your child, supporting their extracurricular activities or just doing things with them, get in the habit of writing all this down so that you have a diary showing your constant involvement in your child’s life.

Organize All Your Expenses

Although child custody and child support are two different things, they are related to each other and tend to affect one another. When one parent has sole custody, the other parent is usually responsible to pay support. Even in situations where the parents share custody, if the other parent makes significantly more money than you do, the court may order them to pay support so that your child can have a similar lifestyle whichever home they’re in.

Bring all the information you have about your own income as well as any information you have about the other parent’s income, though this could be limited depending on the situation. Your lawyer can tell you more. You also need documentation of the expenses you currently pay for your child and any expenses the other parent pays. This would include insurance premiums, payments for daycare or childcare, anything you pay for enrolling your child in an extracurricular activity like music lessons, and anything else relevant to your situation.

Custody battles can be very difficult and emotionally charged, but when you have an experienced family lawyer in Austin, TX, on your side, things go more smoothly. Contact the Evans Family Law Group in Austin now for a free consultation and let’s talk through your situation.