After procuring an attorney for the matter, what is the best way to prepare for an upcoming child custody dispute with a PBPD ex?
I am amazed at the number of people who believe that courts are interested in whether your ex merely has a mental illness and/or personality disorder. They are not.
Judges care about mental illness and personality disorders only if these conditions make people a danger to themselves or to others.
There are many people who suffer from various mental illnesses and personality disorders who manage these afflictions in responsible ways such that they do not pose a danger to themselves or to others. These kinds of people are of no concern to the court. They can’t be. They’ve done nothing wrong.
It’s not the fact that your ex suffers from mental illness and/or personality disorders that is of concern, it’s whether your ex is harming, attempting to harm, or threatening to harm you or your children or others that is of concern to the court. “Harm” need not be limited to physical injury alone. If your ex who suffers from mental illness or personality disorders is causing you or the children severe emotional or psychological harm, that is relevant.
If the fact that your ex is doing, attempting, or threatening harm as a consequence of suffering from mental illness and/or personality disorders, then and only then is your ex’s condition material and relevant to the court.
Courts will not punish people merely for being mentally ill or suffering from a personality disorder.
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