Attorney Todd Dwire speaking with staff member in conference room

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Don’t let retaliation affect your child custody case

On Behalf of | Feb 14, 2014 | Firm News |

Child custody cases are some of the most important legal issues you may ever have to face. The results of your child custody determination will have sweeping effects on the lives of everyone in your family. It stands to reason, then, that many child custody cases are highly emotionally charged.

Unfortunately, these emotions can get in the way of one’s child custody case, harming the very people that the case is supposed to help.

A recent Huffington Post article relayed the story of a woman who caught her husband cheating. The man was having an affair with a woman who worked as a supplier for the man’s employer. The affair represented a conflict of interest and a clear violation of the rules of the husband’s workplace. If revealed, the man would likely be fired.

The wife wanted to report her husband. This action, however, would have been harmful to her children: After a divorce, children rely upon the financial support of both parents. These finances are often stretched thin after one household has become two; if the father no longer had a job, it may be difficult for him to make his child support payments.

High emotions and retaliation can interfere with child custody cases in other ways. Emotion can make parents lose sight of the true goal of the custody hearing: to come to an agreement that suits the child’s interests. In their desire to “win” the custody hearing, to “defeat” the other parent, spouses may end up with a custody agreement that does not suit the best interests of the child.

Parents should therefore avoid retaliatory tactics after a separation, and focus their attention on their children’s future instead.

Source: The Huffington Post, “Retaliation Nation” Monique Honaman, Feb. 11, 2014

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