This is a father's guide on how to win child custody. It will better prepare you, establish a better advantaged position, focus you, and increase your chances of success long BEFORE you even begin the official evaluation and hearings

Don't take the chance of walking into this cut-throat battle with your opponent fully prepared with facts, details, damaging accusations, and a well laid-out case against you; and you with little more than your attorney asking for consideration! Or you just pleading before an evaluating psychologist that the other parent isn't the better choice, with little more than your word or accusations!  What do you think your chances will be if you go unprepared, empty handed, and less convincing?  Even prayers won't help much then.

Learn where to start, essentials to be gained as early as possible, important tactics & strategy, what to do (and not do), what to look out for, and how to prepare for winning custody.  This is one realm where knowledge is power and the unprepared will lose.  The system is unfair and you better know how to use it to your advantage & even the odds.

Whichever parent a child ends up living with, it will be one of the most important outcomes in your life. It certainly is the most important influence in the child's life to come and likely will change the course of many people's lives for generations. And whether or not you obtain custody will likely affect how you will live the rest of your life as well. For something this important, are you going to leave you and your child's life in the hands of chance, blind hopes, strangers who truly know little of either of you, a set of opposing attorneys, or a court system that traditionally glosses over facts superficially in making that decision?You need to know how to better leverage valuable assets & capitalize on the other parent’s shortcomings & history. Most importantly you need to know what to look for, how to interpret and apply things to essential laws & guidelines, and how you present it. What you provide as ammunition and how you prepare has a great impact on your chances in custody. Can you honestly say at this moment that you know what to do and how to go about accomplishing that goal? Are you thinking you'll just leave all that to an attorney who really doesn't know all the facts and details like you do? Or do you want to look back after losing and reflect on what you should have done, or say to yourself, "if I had only done things differently, knew what was coming, if you had only known in advance it would turn out against you"?

It's strange to think people spend more time, thought & energy for researching & planning of vacations, a new home, car, or a new relationship or date; than how to successfully plan for & attempt custody of children. Ask yourself; do you honestly feel you are the better choice as a parent? Don't pursue custody for selfish reasons or for retaliatory motivation just to hurt the other parent or to win a prize. But if you know & feel in your heart you are the better choice, then preparation & knowledge is power in the arena of custody battles. And if you blindly walk into court unprepared to present why you are the better parent and respond with "just because" or "I want it", or "she's a mean person" or can you only 'bad-mouth' him or her; expect to lose. An opposing attorney is intent upon tearing you apart to make you look bad. Do you know how to plan against this attack? Have you already laid the foundation and demonstrated months previously to the contrary? And do you know how to mount a comprehensive & methodical offensive against her, already armed long in advance with a viable presentation?

· Do you feel your children will be better off with you? · Do you think your ex will obstruct a relationship with your children? · Do you believe your ex will use the children against you or shut you out? · Are you worried your children to grow up without your involvement? · Are you unsure what to do or how to better your chances? · Are you unsure how to be more effective for an evaluation? · Are you unsure how to get the system to realize what you already know?

Do you really know what to expect? 
Be aware of the fact that your attorney will be of little help or prepare you for the psychological evaluation process (which provides its recommendation to the courts that will make or break your chances). You are on your own for this. If you walk into this without adequate preparation - and fail, don't say I didn't warn you.   Ask yourself these questions:  
·Do you really know what you are doing?
· What to prepare for?
· What really matters?
· What they are looking for?
· How to present your case for the best impact?
· How to challenge her accusations successfully? 
· How to handle yourself in there?
· Know what not to do, what mistakes not to make?
You pay an attorney to represent you in the court hearings.  But what prepares the foundation behind the scenes leading to it, which could greatly increase your chances? An already busy overloaded attorney who's mind set is on procedurally "following the line" and playing by the strict rules - is NOT the best/only place to start looking for the answers to questions you don't even know to ask.  Attorneys are only tools within the court to effectively work against your opponent's attorney and help reveal your facts to a judge.  

How you prepare & what you do prior to the Evaluation and Hearings 
can greatly affect the outcome.
       In order to provide the best possible chance, it is up to you to build your case and gain advantages early on.  Don't blindly leave the rest of your life (and your child's) solely in the hands of essentially an unknown attorney.  From the beginning you need help on what to do & how, and the only question many know to ask is "what do I do now"?  Most don't know what to do and where to start first. 
       Given are principles and practices that work.  This is intended to not only elevate your standing as the better parent, but also exploit her conduct, weaknesses or threats, and influence other's impressions of her; as well as offer you insight and inspiration.  Depending on your opponent's definition, she may claim this information is cheating, but not technically. Don't be so naive to think that she and her attorney won't use every trick, lie, or character assassination opportunity to win. If you genuinely believe you are the better parent and that the children would be better off with you, then you need every advantage at your disposal. Be assured that it's frequently warfare and in order to win, you need to understand the rules and how to use them to your best advantage.  It is usually a messy unfair battle where the legal system virtually awards the mother automatic physical custody - unless you contest it properly.

The key is knowing what facts to use and how to present it.
Knowing what facts to use against her & what tools to give your attorney determines your outcome.  The same equally applies for the critical evaluation. This is why you need the proper knowledge. You need the knowledge before hand to tackle such an offense. I'll show you what to look for and what to use against her that you normally wouldn't think of, or thought would be important enough to make any difference.  You'll be surprised how effective this can be. You'll learn what to use that really makes a difference to the courts, psychologists, and other individuals evaluating your case which they can't overlook if you properly present yourself and the facts. The key is knowing what facts to use and how to present it.

Complied alphabetically are each state’s own individual guidelines that are factors the courts and evaluators are to follow in determining custody when evaluations are given. You may not have even known there were such guidelines, let alone what they are. Hunting for them can be extremely tough, but all the work has been done for you, alphabetically state by state. Additionally you need to selectively pick actions and behaviors of the opposing parent and apply them to these factors. Sometimes these guidelines are generic or vague and you’ll need insight with examples to apply. I’ve seen too many times parents not realizing they have a gold mine of opposing behaviors right in front of them to use and never had the insight to apply them to these factors. You’ll be given 140 examples of violations to use against the other parent, many you may not have known or thought mattered.

Do you realize that attorneys are essentially presenters of your facts and arguments, tools to express your side? What you provide to them it is your responsibility. If you can't provide the proper ammunition the lawyer needs to persuade any court in your favor, it won't even matter if you have the best attorney in the world. Either providing an attorney with too little to go on or a weak case to base an adequate defense; and even not providing the right keys for a good offense and being hit with accusations & charges you didn't even see coming and now can’t defend against, you won’t succeed. Presenting a well thought out and persuasive case reflects equally upon how much thought you will put into raising a child and how important and prepared you will be for any situation involving upbringing. It’s your responsibility to arm your attorney and evaluations with relevant persuasive ammunition and facts that you likely don’t realize you have. Nobody will know the facts as well as you, so it's up to you to be perceptive enough to see and utilize appropriate information as tools for your attorney's bidding. Once properly armed, the facts speak for themselves in evaluations & court and can be overwhelming to defend against and allow even an average attorney to mount a successful conclusion. Is it magical? No! But an acute mind and knowing what to look for relative to established criteria and applying those arguments appropriately, is an essential ingredient.

Against a very well prepared, methodical, and persuasive challenge; the usual arrogantly over-confident other parent will be caught off-guard having previously made errors in judgment and actions that are critically important for custody determination. Knowing what to look for and how to capitalize on things is paramount. It is amazing how the other parent actually hands you all the ammunition you need, if you know what to look for.

The parent who is over-confident, arrogant, operates against the other parent with seeming impunity, and expects to easily win custody; sometimes is the easier target to pull a surprise victory against. The one from behind initially, is more careful, methodical, observant, acute, and prepared; and can be more difficult to assail in evaluations. And in a tactical war against two closely matched parents, certainly the one who knows more of the specific rules & information vital to custody determination is generally the tougher to win against when proper preparation has been achieved. Arrogance and over-confidence can lead to subtle yet important violations of factors in custody determinations.

This will inform and help you learn how to:
· prepare well in advance for the evaluation & subsequent hearings.
· know what at ammunition to use and to look for that's effective, of which you may not have thought important.
· present your case & ammunition to the evaluator to advantage yourself with maximum impact.
· adequately defend against her accusations and to take the offensive.
· use tactics against her.
· win the psychological warfare.
· turn the tide & put her constantly on the defensive.
· know what mistakes not to make.
· know what things to do early on that greatly advantage your position.
· gain the upper hand.
· turn defeats into wins.
· become and appear to be the better parent & the better alternative.
· know what the deciding factors are & what matters more & how to use the to your advantage.
· get out of spinning your wheels if you find yourself constantly defending yourself against accusations & attacks, and from losing or looking bad.
· leverage things against her that you thought  trivial or might not know are relative.
· effectively crush her psychologically or make her screw up & give you even more ammunition.
· organize & promote your side in the best light.

This manuscript is based on the successes of a custodial father who has won custody. The author himself has won both sole physical & sole legal custody against an equally matched mother.  More qualified fathers should be the custodial parent; our children deserve the better parent. For the price of this essential guide, you'll buy less than 5-10 minutes of quick, generally vague, non-detailed legal advice from a busy attorney who won't recommend adequate warfare strategies & preparation that law school didn't teach.  Beyond that, you're on your own preparing your foundation of the actual evaluation & hearings.  Your attorney is a tool, if you don't provide the right ammunition, he/she will be unable to produce an adequately successful case. Knowledge is power.

Ideas to follow & use here are not just based upon statistics or theory, they significantly & successfully helped give this father sole custody against a seemingly perfect mother guaranteed to win (who the system normally would have awarded this to). Few people are perfect; fewer are perfect parents who make perfect choices & judgments or act perfect. Only you know the weakness and issues of that other parent. The real choice ultimately comes down to, which is the better alternative relative to each other and how to convince others of this fact. 

Isn't investing in winning custody of your child worth the price of a ticket to a sports event, a half tank of gas, dinner out, or an article of clothing? Or for the price a child's toy, this is a much better investment in your future (and your child's).  Besides, with attorney's fees perhaps as high as $300 an hour or more for advice that isn't detailed or as helpful, this is priced far less and you get a whole lot more.