Child custody dispute and what you should not do
A child custody dispute often involves high emotion amongst parents and understandably so. Parents are trying to reach agreement about what the living arrangements will be for their children after divorce or separation. Even where parents are quite amicable, child custody lawyers in Brisbane see that this process can be very difficult for parents.
If there has been continuing conflict during the relationship and after divorce or separation, the issues to be resolved in a child custody dispute or parenting dispute can seem insurmountable to the parents involved. Add to that a possible court action and the atmosphere between parents often escalates and not in a good way.
Child custody lawyers are sometimes seeing people who have become entrenched in their view of the other parent. This can become even worse during the course of the child custody dispute.Whatever their feelings towards that other parent, they may be unable to restrain themselves from speaking in a negative way about that parent to their children or in the presence of their children.
At LGM Family Law, our child custody lawyers Brisbane and North Brisbane child custody lawyers always strongly recommend that parents change that behaviour and learn to speak of their former partner in a respectful way, both to their children and when their children are around. Children are negatively effected by hearing a parent speak in a negative manner about the other parent. For a young child, the immediate consequence of that behaviour in a child custody dispute may be that the child feels hostile towards that other parent. Reading in this are will show you that this can cause long term damage not only to that relationship but also for the development of the child.
What the parent speaking badly of the other parent after divorce or separation often seems to forget is that children grow up. They will eventually form their own opinions about the conduct of both parents during and after the child custody dispute and may later feel aggrieved at the alienating parent.
Parents also need to be aware that the family courts will be very concerned to know whether or not parents involved in a child custody dispute are capable of co-parenting their children. If their relationship is so conflicted that they are not able to communicate at any reasonable level, it can become necessary that the court chooses with which parent the children will spend all or most of their time.
Family lawyers understand that it is very common that negative comments made by a parent about another parent come to the fore when children see family report writers. Evidence of comments of that kind can also appear in the affidavit of the other party. Those kinds of developments will put a parent involved in a child custody dispute in a bad light before the court. It may well negatively effect the outcome of the case following divorce or separation.
Contact us at LGM Family Law. Our experienced, child custody lawyers Brisbane and child custody lawyers North Brisbane can assist you to obtain the best available outcome in your child custody dispute. We offer free family law advice during our initial call with you and fixed fee initial consultations. We are ready to advise you in all areas of family law including divorce, separation, child custody and property settlement. Fixed fee consultation and fixed price family law advice provided.