Family Lawyer

There are few opportunities in life that are more sacred than parenting a child to the best of one’s abilities. When a child’s parents no longer agree fundamentally on how to provide for a child’s best interests, contentious child custody battles may develop. If you are facing a contentious child custody challenge, know that you don’t have to weather this heart-wrenching legal situation alone.

If you and your child’s other parent have reached a point wherein you simply cannot come to an agreement as to how your child’s custody arrangement should be structured, you may have started to panic. The stress of worrying that you’ll lose what could be the most important fight of your life may be causing your anxiety to skyrocket. It’s time to take a very deep breath and to pick up the phone so that you can speak with an attorney capable of clarifying your legal situation and providing you with personalized feedback.

Legal Strategies Designed to Meet “The Best Interests of the Child” Standard

As an experienced family lawyer – including those who practice at AttorneyBernie.com – can explain in greater context as concerns your unique case, family law judges in the U.S. are required to resolve contentious child custody matters “in the best interests” of the affected child. Therefore, our firm’s approach to every contentious child custody case is grounded in illustrating how our client’s approach best meets that standard with respect to their child. 

The best interests of every child are as unique as that specific child is. An attorney can work tirelessly to build legal strategies and supporting materials that effectively reflect this reality on behalf of you and your child. While building a solid legal approach to your contentious child custody matter, an attorney can:  

• Evaluate what the unique “best interests” of your child are
• Assess the fundamental differences that are keeping you and your child’s other parent from reaching an agreement
• Construct a legal strategy, if appropriate, designed to reach an agreement with your child’s other parent before judicial intervention becomes necessary
• Advocate aggressively on behalf of you and your child should a “courtroom battle” become the best or only way forward
• Negotiate fair child support arrangements designed to meet your child’s needs
• Draft a co-parenting plan that is manageable, enforceable, and sets reasonable expectations (if you are not fighting for sole legal and physical custody)

With so much at stake, it is critically important to have solid legal representation if you and your child’s other parent fundamentally disagree about your child’s custody arrangements.

If You and Your Co-Parent Can Reach an Agreement Without Judicial Intervention

When a child’s parents do not fundamentally disagree on how their child custody arrangements should be constructed, it is possible to work with an attorney exclusively for the purposes of formalizing whatever terms have been agreed to by both parents. If you and your child’s other parent are in a position to draft a sample agreement, you can have an attorney review the terms to ensure that they are fair, manageable, and enforceable. They can also help you formalize your final draft and submit it to the court.