Do Character Witnesses Matter in Family Law Cases?

Expert witnesses play a significant role in most divorce and family law cases, leading people to discuss the importance of character witnesses. Do they help? This question leads to an important and necessary discussion. Commonly, parties come to their divorce or family law attorney with a character witness already in mind. In a divorce case, a character witness may be a party who testifies about the moral fitness or personal qualities of another party. But in some jurisdictions, a character witness in a divorce case cannot be a family member. Rather, the witness must be a friend, colleague, or personal associate who knows about the personal qualities of the party about whom he or she testifies. Friends and family are the most common types of character witnesses.

Choosing the right witnesses

Oftentimes, parties believe that having their mother, father, sibling, or good friend up on the stand will be most helpful to their case. So is that true? The truth is that it won’t get you very far because the obvious reason for asking a friend or relative to speak on your behalf is that they’re going to have good things to say about you. This doesn’t make a very impressive impression on a judge. The judge does not need to hear that you are a nice person. The judge is going to be more interested in a description of everyday life, such as cooking and cleaning, when the child is with you. The judge will want someone to talk about how you interact with your child, how you discipline the child, and how you talk about the other parent in front of your child. So, if having a friend or family member as your character witness is your best option, there are a few things you can do to improve the possibility of it helping your case. Instead of a character witness taking the stand to list off your best qualities one by one, tell a story instead. A story can tell so much about a person and allows the judge and anyone else in the courtroom to form their own opinions, rather than being told what to think. Although this may still make a character witness appear to be biased, it will prove to be more helpful for your case.

Telling the right kind of stories

Telling the right kind of story is extremely important as well. You don’t want to tell a story that seems as if you’re testifying directly for the character of the party. Instead, you want to tell a story that simply tells that you witnessed a certain behavior with your own eyes or ears, which makes you a witness, and not just someone’s friend. Telling the right kind of stories is vital. It should be a time when good parenting skills are clearly shown, naturally and on their own. The judge is more likely to form their own opinion when they have something to go off that allows them to consider more than one conclusion.

Stories can paint a positive picture of a character who is often persuasive in a trial without the question ever being directly asked. This kind of outcome is the best kind of closing argument for a family law case because you’re able to prove your point about a character without physically stating it. Giving the judge room to create their own opinion can make a big difference. Another important factor in being a successful character witness for a friend or family member is to make sure the attorney representing your friend’s case prepares you about the goal of your testimony and what they are planning to ask you on the stand. When the other attorney questions you, if they ask about parts of your friend’s life you don’t have experience with or aren’t qualified to discuss, it’s ok to say you don’t feel qualified or comfortable answering.

Controlling what you can

Ultimately, the most imperative witness during a family law case is you. You cannot control how the other parent acts, but you can control how you act. If you are petty and vindictive in your dealings with the other parent, that is likely to come out in court. If you are respectful and courteous to the other parent and stay focused on behaving in your child’s best interests, that will come across in court as well.

If you are going through a divorce or family law matter and have questions about how character witnesses may impact your case, you can call 855-805-0595 or contact us online.

Do Character Witnesses Matter?

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