The Pen is Mightier Than the Word

We have all heard the phrase he said/she said.  In the legal world, that means the Judge will be left with the discretion as to what party the Court will side with.  This can often be frustrating to parties as they know what the other party said and agreed upon, but cannot prove it in the legal sense.  If you have a verbal agreement, it is helpful to write a follow-up e-mail or text to the other party summarizing the agreement.  This creates a running record of what was said and agreed upon.

When its Time to Fight

Family law can turn ugly with one misspoken word or an insensitive comment.  What do you do when communication breaks down and settlement talks are getting you nowhere?  The simple answer is that it is time to fight!!  

Why am I cynical?

Yesterday, I spent the morning doing a child custody evaluation settlement conference.  I was shocked at how often I thought the the evaluator's suggestions would never work.  Child custody issues often seem to be based on power and a "screw the other" mentality.  So when the evaluator would express confidence that the parties could work something out, I was thinking if they could work it out we would not be here right now.  I understand the need to trust the other and to hope that everyone will act properly, but it seems that control and power seem to trump this need.  It would seem that it is in the child's best interest to not give control or power to either parent.  Maybe that is why there is a movement towards favoring joint custody.  This would then weaken power and control and force the parties to deal with each on parenting issues.  Parenting coordinators would also be helpful to keep the parents focused on parenting and not reliving their disputes.   What to you think?