Lawyer up & dnt speak to the bitch until this shit is settled
& always remember,its not a lie if you believe it..

It all depends on the judge. I don't care what your lawyer says. He may tell you that you have a rock solid, completely air-tight case against her and that you've done everything right.

Then the judge decides to side with the mother because he just thinks the kids are better off with Mom.

Happens all the time. Best of luck. Be prepared to fight and spend a lot of money doing so. The system is much more inclined to side with the mother, it's just the way it is. Years and years of too many asshole dads have kind of screwed it up for the good dads out there. And, then there's the judge and it all depends on which side of the bed he OR SHE wakes up on.

Meh. I smoked my X. I also had the best attorney the city of Omaha had to offer. I had to borrow huge somes of money from both my Aunt & uncle & my mom & dad.
JFC the appeal after i had won custody was $ 10,000.00

In Maryland at the age of 10 a kid can pick who they want to live with.

Really ! That would be horrible for the child to have to make that decision in MOST cases.

Beats the shit out of forcing the child to live with a parent he/she doesn't want to.

It depends. Kids are not the best judges of what is best for them.

Thats true Also .

I've spent time as a foster parent so I know there's a lot of different situations.

I don't have personal experience with this stuff but I have a close relative who has gone through this custody stuff for a long time. I've watched this type of drama happen. I've seen it when the system doesn't work. I know it costs a boat load of money for the father to retain full time custody of children. In my family's case, the mother was a complete **** up. She broke all the rules. Now, she had lots of money so she could afford the best "law firm" not lawyer, but "law firm" that money could buy. My relative also retained an excellent lawyer. $50k here, $25k there, $30k the next time around (we guesstimate the ex spent twice as much)... be prepared.

Just as a reminder - Everything on the internet is permanent and can be found by anyone, including divorce lawyers. I would edit this post if I were you. Sarcasm and humor don't come through on courtroom documentation.

I think 16 may be the age for final decision, but I do know some judges will let younger children speak with them one on one off the record if they wish. Judge will then chose to use or disregard what was said in a final decision. Once again it just comes down to the judge.

Don't worry . If you'll check his post history this is nothing.

That's one of those things that is typically a PITA in the short-term but ultimately helps your cause. Unfortunately, you never know with the court system which gives a tremendous amount of differential treatment to mothers.

Ultimately, it comes down to what's best for the children in the eyes of the courts if there isn't a document that says otherwise and they don't always apply the facts that may be important to you or your kids in rendering those judgments.

Good luck!

Well, they offered to pay me in peanuts, but I wisely declined and held out for the yes. That's before taxes though. After taxes, my income is 8, if that makes any difference.

Also, it appears I do not have a wife or an ex-wife, but my answer to #2 is still yes, which I'm finding irksome now. Can you help?

Had the same thought when I read that, so decided to make the surrounding posts equally absurd.