If you attempt to represent yourself in your own family court matter for a matter involving divorce, child support, child custody, placement, paternity or any other of various matters handled by family courts throughout the country, you should always "stick to the point.
" Countless people who attempt to represent themselves fail miserably for this one simple reason.
They don't stick to the point.
Going off on tangents wastes the court's time.
Some family court judges can be very patient.
Other judges may not be so patient depending upon the day or their mood.
However, there is no judge that wants to have their court time wasted by someone babbling on about Why? There are a lot of people who need the judge's and the court's time.
They can't afford to have their that time wasted.
When you don't stick to the point you risk wasting the court's time and angering the judge.
So stick to the point! Chances are if you are not sticking to the point, then you are bringing up information that is irrelevant to the reason you are in court and the judge doesn't need to hear it and probably doesn't want to hear it.
Be respectful.
Make your point as strongly as you can and make sure you stick to your point.
So how do you "Stick to the Point?" Many good attorneys follow this crucial point by choosing a theme as their point.
Their theme is usually the focus of their purpose for being at the court that day.
For instance, imagine you have a Motion to Modify Child Support because circumstances have substantially changed because you lost your job.
The theme in that case becomes self-evident.
You lost your job.
That is the point you want to stick with and hammer on again and again.
If you went from making $3,000 per week to collecting $571 per week on unemployment then your approach might be "I lost a great job making $45,000 a year.
Now I'm just collecting $571 a week until I find a new job.
I don't know what to do other than keep my chin up and look for a new job really hard.
I lost a job I was really good at.
I guess I just have to accept it and do my best to get a new job.
When you lose your job your whole life changes.
I didn't mind paying my child support but I think the court knows that I don't have any control when my company let's me go from my job.
I certainly didn't want to lose my job.
I'll do my very best to get a new job as quickly as possible for the sake of my children.
For right now though I don't have a job.
I need my child support reduced until I get a new job.
I still can't believe I lost my job.
" Do you see the theme? Do you see how I stuck to the point? If not, check again.
How many times did I mention that I "lost my job", "losing my job" or having to "find a new job?" I say it in almost every sentence in one way or another.
Why did I do it this way? You may only have a few minutes to speak.
You may only be able to get one paragraph out before the judge feels that he or she has heard enough about losing your job.
However, you want to stick to the subject and repeat that theme at least three to five times.
You should state your theme right at the start, one to three times in the middle of what you have time to say, and then again at the end.
Don't count on having more time.
Always count on having less time.
Stick to the point by repeating your theme in different ways several times so it will be memorable in the judge's head and you won't be going off on tangents.
You can do this when you are representing yourself in family court for just about any subject.