[samstave]

Do you know of any similar resources in the Family Law area? (not sure how to specifically word my question, but helping someone with some custody related issues - and wondering if there is some resource I could be aware of to help?)

Else, was going to turn to the GPTs and see what they may muster, but any even general direction pointers would be appreciated?

[chadash]

IANAL, but there are some things where you should really get expert advice. Child custody is one of them.

I think with legal docs generally, you have to decide what the stakes are and act accordingly. In general, keep in mind that most lawyers won't take a case unless there's someone with deep pockets to sue. So for that $20k loan you give to a friend, a boilerplate template is fine; if they don't want to pay you back, a lawsuit is gonna cost you more than the loan anyway. You've got a new startup for website monitoring with 20 customers? Worry about growing your userbase, not the remote chance that you get sued and something in the boilerplate docs you used wasn't worded properly (of course, once you raise significant money or have significant revenue, those legal docs become much more important, and also this doesn't apply if you are working on something with significant risk, such as a medical device).

But child custody isn't one of those things. It is high stakes, the chances that your counterparty will sue you are very high, and a bad outcome might be one of the worst things that can happen to you. Personally, the possibility of losing custody of my children would be much more worrying to me than any financial lawsuit.

[shermantanktop]

I have a friend in a messy divorce. With custody, all rational thought has gone out the window. Cost of lawyers? Doesn’t matter, sue! Need to comply or get fined? Don’t care. Court ordered therapy? Don’t feel like it.

The pockets that fund this behavior will be empty at some point. But until then, primal irrational impulses are running the show.

In a case like that, the difference between the right legal docs and the mostly right docs would be huge.

[ethbr1]

Legal divorce proceedings are like wedding planning, except every professional around you instead has a financial incentive to make you as angry and mean as possible, because it means more billable hours.

[toomuchtodo]

I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars incinerated on legal fees due to this. Very accurate!

[samstave]

To be honest; We need a "divorce/came-into-money-IPO/WTF do when tech couples split?" TECH DOCUMENTS (For all parties - but specifically their kids) thingy...

[toomuchtodo]

Prenup for assets, judges in family court for kids. Why no docs for custody and kids in general? Because a disinterested human needs to make the decisions at the time the exception occurs.

(have volunteered some time as a guardian ad litem, and most in my circle are divorced, from the homeless to a billionaire)

[samstave]

I was more looking for properly formatting a document for filings was all?

Maybe thats a poor example - but forms help thats not spammy, but also not "starting a business related"

Legal resources online all seem so "Better Call Saul" quality. Like going to a used car lot.

[jakestein]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any resource besides an attorney that would help with a custody issue. I'm sure that's rough, and I hope things turn out as well as possible for your friend and their family. A few other resources that are outside the commercial realm are:

https://helloprenup.com/ https://hellodivorce.com/ https://www.getdynasty.com/ https://trustandwill.com/

I haven't personally used those services, but the founders are great

[dylan604]

> was going to turn to the GPTs

this seems ripe for disaster. hopefully, you weren't serious. as with all things, I'd really hope anything in the realm of legal documents from GPT would be then consulted with an actual lawyer

[samstave]

Sorry - I am looking for properly formatting, the fact that their case is custody was useless info I guess...

I just want to ensure that documents are formatted properly... that was all.

[dylan604]

just to pile on, but forgoing a lawyer in a custody case is the definition of not smart. just don't do it.

[HWR_14]

In a contentious custody case, this is very true. If the parents are splitting up and agree on a plan that they both like, the lawyer becomes far less necessary. Although then the lawyer is very cheap and probably still worth it.

[martincmartin]

I've had luck with Nolo legal documents, for things like a simple will when I was young and my estate was simple.

https://www.nolo.com/