4.
KNOW HOW TO COMPOSE YOUR WRITTEN TESTIMONY
ON
THIS PAGE:
A.
Know The Two Major Questions You And Your Evidence Must Answer
The 2 major questions your testimony must address are:
(1)
What parenting plan do you want the court to adopt?
(2)
How or why would that parenting plan be the one that will best protect and promote your child’s
rights and interests?
B.
Know The Analysis That The Judge Will Probably Use In Deciding On A Parenting Plan
The judge’s analysis will probably follow this progression:
(1)
Review the status quo (current) parenting plan
(a)
What is your child's status quo parenting plan?
(b)
How or why does the status quo contribute to or detract from
your child's rights and interests?
(2)
Review the proposed (new) parenting plan(s)
(a)
What is/are the proposed parenting plan(s)?
(b)
How or why will the proposed parenting plan(s)
contribute to or detract from your child's rights and
interests?
(3)
Decide which parenting plan is best for your child
(a)
How badly will the proposed parenting plan disrupt the child’s
status quo?
(b)
Will the net benefit of the proposed parenting plan outweigh
the net detriment caused by the disruption of the child's
status quo?
C.
Start With An Outline
Outlining serves two functions:
(1)
It provides a relatively quick way to list all the points and issues you want to
address; and,
(2)
It then provides a tool for organizing your testimony, to best address those
points and issues.
D.
Use Our "Master Outline" For Child Custody Disputes
(1)
You can use our "Master Outline" for child custody disputes, HERE,
as a guide to help you assemble your outline for your written testimony.
This
"Master Outline" provides:
(a)
A checklist of the factors that judges usually consider in
deciding on a parenting plan; and,
(b) A tool to help you organize your testimony to
follow the analysis that the judge is most likely to use.
(2)
Prune out those parts of the "Master Outline" that are not relevant to
your case.
(3)
Fill in your outline with your written testimony, using the principles indicated
below.
E.
Fill In Your Outline With the Juicy Details
You know the drill: who, what, where, when, why, how.
F.
Slant Your Testimony In Your Favor
Your testimony should accomplish one or more of the
following three goals:
(1)
Motivate the reader to conclude: “Gee, I’m glad [the other parent]
was not my parent when I was growing up!”
(2)
Motivate the reader to conclude: “Gee, I wish [you] had been my parent
when I was growing up!”
and,
(3)
Provide the reader with your explanations, denials, rebuttals, and other
responses to the nasty stuff that the other parent has said or will say about
you.
G.
Create Headlines From Your Outline
Use your outline headings as a series of headlines for your testimony. They
will dramatically increase the odds that the judge will in
fact understand and consider that testimony. Here's why:
Look at the articles in any metropolitan newspaper. Notice
that they always begin with headlines, which have the following in common:
(1)
They are the first thing you read;
(2)
They help you very quickly and easily determine what the article is about;
(3)
They tell you what the perspective and conclusion of the author are going to be;
(4)
They tell you whether or not you want to read some or all of the article;
and,
get this:
(5)
In only one sentence.
As noted HERE,
judges have far too much to do in far too little time. Hence, any tool which helps the judge to
understand your written testimony quickly, will dramatically increase the odds that the judge will
in fact understand and consider that testimony. Headlines
in your written testimony will do precisely that, because:
(1)
They will be the first thing the judge reads;
(2)
They will help the judge very quickly and easily determine what the subsequent
testimony is about;
(3)
They will tell the judge what the perspective and conclusions of the testimony
are going to be;
(4)
They will tell the judge whether or not the judge will want to read some or all
of the testimony;
and,
get this:
(5)
In only one sentence.
Using headlines will thereby substantially improve the odds that the judge will actually consider
and understand your written testimony. So use your outline headings to create those headlines.
H.
Keep It Short And Sweet
Leave out all material that is extraneous to your point. Keep your written testimony as short as is
possible, while still addressing and explaining everything that needs to be addressed and explained.
As noted above, any tool which helps the judge to understand your written testimony quickly, will
dramatically increase the odds that the judge will in fact understand and consider that testimony.
Keeping your testimony short and sweet will do precisely that.
I.
Consider Starting Your Testimony With A Summary Or Table Of Contents
After assembling your written testimony, consider printing your outline at the beginning, as an
introduction. This will provide to the reader a summary of your testimony and, thereby, a second
chance with which to get your message across.
Also,
if the written testimony is lengthy, consider converting that introduction into a table of contents.
