Customer Reviews

Win Your Child Custody War: Child Custody Help Source Book--A How-To System for People Serious About the Welfare of Their Child (11th Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Simply put, this is the best money you'll spend during your child custody conflict. At a price equivalent to about 15-20 minutes of an attorney's hourly rate, this book will help guide you through the whole process (including tips on how to reduce your attorney fees).

There are two reasons not to get this book:

1. It's a pretty costly book at $80+.

2. It has a strange picture of a kid in a US Marine uniform.

However, if you're embroiled (or about to be embroiled) in a child custody dispute, there is no better resource available for you.

The best time to get this book is BEFORE there are any legal proceedings or court orders. Ideally, you'll have it even before a separation of the parents.

The reason for this is because the book does an excellent job at preparing your mindset for what's ahead, and it gives you plenty of advice on how to prepare even before the separation (i.e., advice that can have long-lasting impact later on).

If you are ALREADY in the middle of a child custody dispute, this book is even MORE important for you to get. Time's a wastin'!

Important areas covered including:

- Building relevant evidence

- Finding and managing your attorney

- Attitude adjustments (pray for peace, but prepare for battle).

- Lifestyle advice (don't do anything stupid that can jeopardize your whole case)

- Interacting with the other parent

- Custody evaluations

- What to expect in court

- Much, much more

I run a child custody advice website ( www.CustodyIQ.com ), and I cannot emphasize enough that of all the books out there... this is the must-buy.

I recommend this book for anyone who has kids. Especially if you are or forsee yourself going through any type of custody decision or change of any kind. Some of the information is common sense and secondhand. Some of it we have already tried and failed and/or succeeded. But the majority of it is stuff we never even thought about....

Fantastic book... I bought the first copy for my husband... He is going through an ongoing custody "MESS" on a regular basis. Our attorney requested a copy and I bought it for her also. She also praises the book.

This book is impressive in both its depth and its breadth. It is a practical "how-to" book, but it is extremely well researched and covers every imaginable custodial issue. No one involved in a custodial battle should enter the courtroom without first reading it. With this book everybody wins--mothers, fathers, and especially the children. Highly Recommended!

Someone gave me a 1994 edition of this book at the start of my divorce and custody dispute. It was a better resource book than anything else at the Baker & Taylor Bookstore. When I found the 11th edition it was double the price of the 3rd edition and quadrupel the information. I am so greatful for the new book and it is again better than anything else available, even on Amazon. I read it for the information and because it is interesting. I appreciate seeing examples of reports and studies before I have to face them myself. Win Your Child Custody War, also helps me keep a healthy prespective on what is going on in my life because I can see what others have dealt with. I have used the letters and examples and they really made a positive difference. A great living, breathing piece of work and an outstanding reference!

This was a good resource for someone going through custody battles. I would recommend it to anyone, but would also mention the fact that there were more misspelled words, typos, major lack of editing issues than any other book I've ever read. WOW. But, the content makes up for this gross neglect. Still, for the price I paid for this book, I did expect better from the editing...

This book is essential to anyone who is or may be involved in a child custody battle. Every possible problem is covered, giving examples, recommendations, advice, and solutions. There's so much information, it's almost overwhelming. Then again, being involved in a child custody dispute is no simple matter, so you need lots of information. Better to have too much than not enough. One man who bought the book said it contained details he never would have thought of, but because it did, he was better prepared and won his case. WIN YOUR CHILD CUSTODY WAR has been recommended by parents, psychologists, mediators, educators, judges, lawyers, and wardens--all of whom have firsthand knowledge of what's involved when people are fighting one another for custody of a child. Universally, they say that it's the most comprehensive book available today, with a breadth and depth of material not found anywhere else.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The index is huge and needs to be. Everything is covered. This book is hard to read because you are offered so much. You want to get started before you have finished the page. Our attorney is amazed at what we are willing and able to do to help our case. Worth twice, no three times the money. Buy this book; read this book; start making things better.

If you've never been involved in a child custody case, you may be offended by the cover of this book. If you have been, the baby boy in a U.S Marine uniform won't seem unusual at all. The children in this nation that so prides itself on "freedom" are daily battered, psychologically abused, and sometimes killed, while their parents struggle to gain custody---to win the war. All too often the rights of the children to emotional, physical and psychological stability---not to mention LOVE---are overlooked, forgotten, or just plain ignored as each side positions themselves to win custody.

Whether you are a parent, grandparent, older sibling---or a retained investigator---you'll find useful guidance in this book. It contains so much information that some chapters are almost overkill. Let me say right up front-if you're engaged in a child custody battle, or you suspect you might be soon, GET THIS BOOK!

As a former professional investigator and current editor/publisher of Cluesonline, a monthly e-mail newsletter for professional investigators, I am concerned about the problems I found in some chapters relative to investigation.

I'll be honest---although I have never before written a book review without having read the entire book, this time I'm making an exception. I don't have the time to devote to reading the massive amount of information, nor do I need to at this moment. However, I have read enough of it to wish I had had a copy in earlier years. If I was working a child custody case now---I would read every word and insist that everyone involved in the case do the same, if they were capable. Some clients aren't capable, of course, and that makes it even more important that the attorney and investigator be educated.

Though this book is designed primarily for the parents involved in a custody battle, there is ample information for a seasoned investigator to review or a novice to carefully study. There are pages describing e-mail evidence, chain of evidence requirements and applicable case law, and spoliation of evidence details. Especially important are the detailed explanations of why the person seeking custody should NOT be the one gathering evidence. The following is a brief example of what the author has stated:

"Even if you do manage to observe a problem and even if you do manage to conduct an immediate, proper and thorough scene investigation---including preserving the scene, taking dozens of overall and close-up photographs, making a detailed sketch, casting, collecting, vacuuming, scraping, marking and preserving, it won't do you the least bit of good.
"Why? Because you are an advocate...." (Page 155)

There is an entire chapter entitled, "Detectives" which of course turns out to be about professional investigators. The author interchanges "detective" and "private investigator" and "investigator" so often it becomes confusing. Though PIs are called detectives in some states, the author should choose one descriptor to avoid confusion.

I read this chapter very carefully. Some of the author's advice is right on and useful. Some of it made me grit my teeth! She instructs to "make sure your detective is licensed and, above all, very street smart," but then on another page gives the unwise advice: "Pay the investigator directly, as some attorneys add a mark-up to defray the cost of paying the detective while still waiting for payment from you. Also, tell the investigator that you intend to maintain control over the costs and information developed." I assumed from those comments that Ms. Hardwick didn't know that most states don't extend attorney-client privilege to investigators who are hired directly by the client. Then, several pages further I found her somewhat confusing admonitions. From the initial statement under "Confidentiality-Detective":

"The relationship between a detective and a client is confidential between you and a reputable detective, but there is no confidentiality protected by the law."

to

"Instruct the detective to send everything directly to you and not maintain an in-house file on your case"

I found her instructions and comments to be completely outside the norm for how a custody investigation should be handled. It is my hope that she seeks assistance in cleaning up the "detective chapter" before the next edition is published.

It also bothers me that she used "he" and "him" throughout the chapter, but since it is consistent with the rest of the book, I'll assume that she is aware that some of the best domestic case investigators are female.

This chapter is heavy on how to govern your investigator, complete with sample forms for evaluating, retaining, and making assignments to him, as well as pages and pages of sample reports. I didn't find anything related to doing this through an attorney, but of course she isn't recommending hiring an investigator through the attorney---only getting a referral from one. It is good, though, that she warns against hiring "snakes," explaining that unethical investigators aren't willing to break the law "because they think you are such a wonderful person with a worthwhile mission that they will do these things only this time to help you; it is because they are this way all the time."

I was happy to see that Hardwick instructs her readers to "Pay your investigator's fees on time"! To her credit she also provides explicit information on the importance of not having sex with your detective-no matter who tries to initiate it. There is also information on where to file a complaint against an investigator who has treated the client unfairly.

In a section entitled, "Are You Are Being Watched?" the author uses the great example of the 2003 Texas case of Clara Harris deliberately running down her philandering husband to prove a point that "Just as their (other side) detective can't catch you misbehaving if you are behaving correctly; your own detective can't hide evidence of you behaving badly." In the Harris case, Blue Moon Investigations had to turn over a videotape of their client repeatedly running over her mate.

In her publicity materials the author states, "Everyone tells you what you can't do. This manual gives hundreds of options to let you see what you can do." I agree!

Remarkable. Because each case is so different it would be useless to present this information in any other form.

A great resource book for any individual facing Child Custody issues.
The book covers every subject one could imagine. I think it is a great idea for a freind or family member who might know of someone going through the process to buy it for them. Child custody issues are very emotional for both parties involved, part of the anxiety comes from not understanding the process. After reading the book you will know what to excpect in each circimstance and how to prepare for that part of the battle.