Reply to Asked to be a witness in a custody dispute involving my son's kindergarten friend

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would not get involved here.

Surely there is someone else the dad can ask, who he knows better. You barely know them. If somehow he doesn’t have better witnesses to ask- ones he has known for longer- what does that tell you? Family friends, relatives? Neighbors? Babysitters or childcare providers? Maybe it says nothing. But seems strange enough to me that I would want no part of this. For all you know, he has been on his extra super-best dad behavior around you on purpose- for this reason. Easy to fool someone new, who he has only been around a few times. JMO. [/quote]

Oh, stop.
You clearly know nothing about how these proceedings work, and it shows.

They're not asking for an analysis of the child/parent relationship, they're asking ONLY questions that are relevant to the witness and these questions are about as emotionally charged as writing out a grocery list, lol. 
[/quote]

DP, not the poster to whom you're responding, but -- that's exactly why I wouldn't get involved. In OP's shoes, not knowing the guy other than "does he pick up and drop off on time" and other "grocery list questions," I would still say no. There is no way for OP to know if giving the guy even that much help is a good thing or a bad thing in the end. If it were someone I knew well enough that I wanted to ensure he was clearly seen as a solid, reliable parent? Yeah, I'd testify. But a relative stranger, when I don't know what kind of parent he is beyond those pickups and dropoffs etc.? Nope, I wouldn't do it. All the reliable logistical interactions in the world don't tell you if the person's a decent parent when he's alone with his kid. [/quote]

Except unless you know the person extremely well, you don’t know if they are abusive or unfit. All you know is the outward facts: the children are well groomed and fed, parent was active in their lives, etc.

I guess I am in the minority but I have no problem testifying about things I have actually seen. It’s the judge’s job to put it in context. Unless I really felt I was being manipulated, I would testify.

I have a friend right now likely to go through a custody hearing. The father is a jerk but also a competent parent in other respects. So I assume I will be testifying to what I have actually seen, some of which is in his favor. I’m fine with that. [/quote]

I was well groomed and fed and my parents were active in my life. I was also physically, verbally and emotionally abused. I genuinely thought everyone was afraid of their parents and cringed walking past them bracing to get hit. I thought everyone dealt with it. [/quote]

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