8 Things NOT to do in Court if you want to get your Child Support

1. Do not roll your eyes or mutter under your breath when your ex is testifying.  Although justice may be blind, most judges are not. Judges  rarely appreciate one party's use of facial expressions to mock the other spouse's testimony

2. Do not keep referring to your child as "my" son or "my" daughter. More often than not, a parent who consistently uses “my”  with regard to the children is a parent who is overly possessive about who should raise them.

3. Make sure that you've disclosed relevant and potentially embarrassing personal facts to your child support enforcement representative or attorney. Nothing can hurt your Child Support or custody case as much as an important negative or embarrassing fact that your representatives are not aware of.

4. Don't bring your extended family and friends to your Child Support hearing.  If you need a support system to get you through the hearing, pick no more than two people to sit quietly in the courtroom.

5. Don't wear torn blue jeans, your muscle shirt or your mini skirt to court. Months of preparation can be undone in an instant if you are dressed to tease rather than to testify. A provocative outfit may be great for the weekend after but it's a fashion disaster for your custody and support case. When you select your courtroom attire, pretend you're heading for a job interview.

6. Be prepared to describe the positive aspects of your ex’s parenting. A child support and custody case can be won or lost with the single question, "Can you describe some of the positive aspects of your spouse's parenting skills”. If you can't say anything positive about your ex to the court, the judge will know you're probably not saying anything positive about your ex to the kids.

7. Don't display hostility toward your ex’s attorney. Your ex’s attorney is probably not on your Christmas list. If you're openly hostile you're probably scoring more points for the other team than for yours. Keeping your cool on the witness stand is a great way of saying that you have nothing to hide.

8. Don't read or receive text messages during the hearing. If you want the Court to pay full attention to your Child Support case, make sure that you do the same.

Chris Wright
Child Support Network
1-800-398-0700