This takes time and is not something that is conducive to Facebook or a “smart” phone to work on and you will work or nothing will happen.

If you have read the report that is intended to make the Case for Reform of Family Law, it shows I do not approach this “problem” in the way that others have. Reality is we are not changing law; we are changing state policy on the way the family is handled.

This approach comes from experience working with legislators and listening to them as well as discussing the entirety of the problem. I study policy on all levels, state and federal. This does take deep research not first page Google that too often attempts to pass itself off as research.

The following is what we need to get a comprehensive bill going.

State research needed

1. Need to have the entire state statutes copy and pasted into a word document. I ask for the complete statute because there are aspects that many miss that do affect the rights of parents. This needs to be copy and pasted into a Word Document.

2. We are looking for court case filing numbers. State Supreme Court may have these. I use this data to show how we can save the courts money and streamline the process.

3. State’s parenting time guidelines. I have begun to ask a question as to why the courts are controlling family law in a manner that is contrary to the desires of the state legislature. Using Ohio as an example, our presumption of equal custody states clearly that it is the desire of the legislature that each case be considered individually and that not standard order be used. Despite this, the Ohio Supreme Court, like the Supreme Courts in other states, has adopted Parenting Time Guidelines that only apply to divorcing or never married parents. It begs the question, “IF these parenting time guidelines are so good, why do they not apply to the married also?

4. Any and all reports that any specific to your state. Custody, child support, anything, what you may not think is significant, I may find useful. It is always best to stick to well qualified sources such as universities and the state government themselves.

5. Child Support Guidelines Review reports and any economic studies that have been done in conjunction with those. I use these to support the automatic deviation of child support that is needed to protect those that enter into “equal” custody arrangement.

This takes time and patience to research. I have been so far ahead of the curve in doing it that I know what to look for.

Concentrate on doing a copy and paste of the statutes first into a word document. We will find the other reports as time permits. I am fortunate that the reports for Ohio are often on line because of a very open government policy that we have.

Working in dedicated blocks of time is the best approach as this is time consuming. That is how I have approached pulling all of this together for other states that I have or am working on. It can take up to 6 months to cull everything and get a proper bill written and ready to go.

The additional information beyond the actual statutes is to argue the benefits down the road for the state.

I know where the opposition will come from and I do have the arguments in place to take those out of play. This is that know thy enemy better than they know themselves approach. Often these enemies are not who you perceive.

I have set up a special email just for these projects. I do suggest that you use it to see if your state is in the working stages now.

As you find this, email it to me at president@ohiofamilyrights.com