Vince Regan
Continued..
The weakness: You are not very involved in your child's healthcare. If the other parent has been the only one to bring your young child to the doctor for sickness, you need to take action. One action: Keep a closer eye on your child's health care. Let's say there is a case of diaper rash or diarrhea/dehydration - pretty common with young kids and often treated with items you can buy at the store. I'd suggest you take the child to the doctor instead. One result: You have something concrete - doctor's instructions or receipt-of the visit and of your concern for you child's well-being from an independent third party. Second action: Check to see if your child needs immunizations and be the one to bring him/her for them. Second result: Immunizations are often overlooked by parents and seeing that your child is current on shots provides that concrete record, the immunization card, that you were involved in meeting this need. It shows you are responsible and plan for your kids needs. And the list of things regarding health care can go on an on from vision screenings to dental cleanings, etc... Think of the items that apply to healthcare and then make a plan to address them with a goal of your child's well-being, concrete evidence, and independent third party testimonies.
6. Communicate! Doing the previous five steps in a vacuum will not help you. Using solid legal counsel and a good therapist/counselor you need to communicate with them about the self-evaluation you have made and the actions you are working on. Your lawyer needs the information to build your case. Your mental health professional needs the information to gauge your progress on coping with your emotions and helping to hold you accountable when times get tough.
7. Educate/Reach Out. You've educated yourself about your state's criteria for custody and made a plan. Don't stop there. You'll need to learn about much more than custody alone as you travel the road of an ended relationship. You need to learn about courts, attorneys, state agencies, counseling services, and more. Finding an organization, like Responsible Single Fathers, that holds local educational meetings could likely prove very helpful. You achieve all of this by reaching out within your local community - saying you could use help in this area or that area and asking for help in locating services that can make a difference during this new stage of your life.
Conclusion
Please note that any of the suggestions contained within this article are not to be construed as legal advice.