Having children is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys in your life. You and their other parent likely have had many joyous experiences together that you will cherish for the rest of your life. However, now you and your spouse are going through divorce, and you fear that the child custody proceedings may get contentious.
You are not alone in this fear, as many parents do have conflicting views on how they want custody arrangements to look. You also likely have this fear because you and the other parent have already made it clear you cannot come to terms on your own. As a result, you will have to attend child custody hearings in order for the judge to issue a custody order.
Dressing for success
One aspect of attending your hearings you may not have given a terrible amount of consideration to is the way you will dress. However, your appearance during your custody hearings may have a significant influence on how the judge views you and your parenting abilities. You may think how you dress should not have an impact, but the judge’s job is, after all, to judge you.
If you appear in court with an outrageous hair color, unkempt and wrinkled clothes, flip flops or cut-off jeans, the judge may think you are not taking the situation seriously. Of course, it can be difficult to know how a particular judge will react to a particular outfit. If possible, you may want to attend other Kentucky child custody hearings and see how the judges on those cases react to the parents’ appearances.
Some items of clothing commonly considered court-appropriate attire include the following:
- Dark suit
- Dark dress without a pattern
- Dress shoes
- Collared shirt
- Dark pants or skirt
- Tie
Often, clothing that you would consider appropriate for a formal job interview would likely also fall into the category of court-appropriate clothing.
Beyond the clothes
While your appearance may play a role in how a judge views your case, that is not the only factor involved in child custody decisions. You will also need to present your ideas and arguments for the custody arrangements you desire. In efforts to understand your best options for doing so successfully, you may wish to work with an experienced family law attorney who can help you with courtroom etiquette and legal details.