Tips on giving in-court testimony in your divorce or child custody case, Part Two

Yesterday’s blog post centered around the subject of in court testimony in your family law case. I wanted to introduce the subject, discuss some basic advice and then transition into the remaining bits of information that I think are relevant to our discussion. If you haven’t yet read the first blog post from yesterday I would recommend you go back and do so.

Let’s jump into today’s topics which center around how to answer a question posed to you by a lawyer as well as how to present yourself as a strong witness to the judge. Remember- appearance isn’t everything but in a trial or contested hearing how you appear to the judge can affect the way that he or she rules.

Volunteer at your church but not on the witness stand

The word “volunteer” has such a positive connotation. If you hear someone say volunteer your mind probably goes to a scene of someone helping out at a soup kitchen or playing a board game with a group of retirees at the local retirement home. To a lawyer in the context of a trial or hearing, volunteering typically doesn’t take on this sort of idyllic image.

When your attorney counsels you not to volunteer information he or she means to only answer the question that is asked of you and to not jump ahead in the questioning and give a response to a question that was not asked.

A lot of times it is easy enough to tell where your attorney is going with a series of questions. It may be so easy, in fact, that without even thinking you may follow your attorney’s line of questioning and provide an answer to a question that had not yet been asked. Do your best to avoiding do this. Your attorney or the other attorney will have an opportunity to ask you another question on the subject matter in which you are answering.

There is no need to pack a number of answers in your response when only one particular answer is appropriate. You can confuse the judge, the attorneys and most importantly yourself if you pack in a handful of answers to questions that were not asked by a lawyer. Simple, honest and concise answers are the best.

Answer the question on your own time schedule

I do not mean that you can take out a book and read a chapter after you are asked a question. Rather, you will be given a reasonable length of time by the judge to formulate an answer. Feel free to take advantage of this time rather than rushing through a response and getting some information wrong.

Attorneys are very good at subtly asking questions in ways that will allow you to get tripped up and start to answer questions quicker than you are comfortable with. If you are not aware of what is going on you may end up answering a whole series of questions where your responses are not what you would like them to be.

Watch your tone of voice when on the witness stand

Even though you may be the most frustrated, angry person in the entire world while you are up there on the witness stand I would advise you to keep your composure while testifying for the good of your case. Being polite, not gesticulating wildly and taking a straightforward approach to your testimony will serve you quite well.

If you have a propensity to be a little sarcastic now and again (speaking for myself I can say that I am guilty of this behavior on occasion) be sure to remind yourself that giving truthful responses does not mean editorializing each response with snarky secondary responses. You may be a really funny person but the judge will not think so, regardless of the way that you formulate and phrase your testimony.

Remember that the opposing attorney wants to do what he or she can (within reason) to make you appear untruthful and unreasonable at the very least. By answering questions sarcastically or showing little patience with the questions then you are playing into their hands.

How to handle an objection made while you are testifying

Often times while you are listening to a question and mentally preparing a response the other attorney will state an objection to the question. An objection occurs when one lawyer believes that there is a deficiency with the question that is being asked.

That attorney is attempting to have the objection sustained and to force the asking attorney to adjust their question or to move on from the subject completely. My advice is to remain silent once an objection is made while you are on the witness stand. If the objection is sustained then you will be asked an entirely different question. If the objection is overruled then the attorney’s original question will need to be answered

Objections can also be offered to your testimony. A common objection made to testimony in a hearing or trial is “nonresponsive”. This means that the attorney stating that objection believes the witnesses’ testimony provides an answer to a question that hasn’t been asked.

From my experience this often occurs when a party provides an answer that he or she believes will be harmful to their case and then attempts to quickly “rehabilitate” themselves by conditioning and clarifying their earlier testimony. If the other lawyer objects to the answer you have given make sure to remain silent until the judge offers a ruling on that objection. You should then proceed based on the instruction of the judge on how to answer the particular question that has been asked of you.

Part Three on in court testimony will be posted tomorrow

If you have other questions on the subject of giving in court testimony in your family law case then you should come back to our website tomorrow. A third blog on this subject will be posted tomorrow for you to read through.

If the first two blogs on this subject have piqued your interest and leave you with some questions please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC today. A free of charge consultation is only a phone call away.

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Other Articles you may be interested in:

1. Tips on giving in-court testimony in your divorce or child custody case
2. Tips on giving in-court testimony in your divorce or child custody case, Part Three
3. Getting Ready for a Hearing On Temporary Custody Orders
4. Child Custody Geographic Restrictions in Texas
5. Geographic Restrictions in Child Visitation Orders in Texas
6. The Dirty Trick of Moving Out of State with the Kids
7. Can a Parent remove My Child from the state of Texas or from the County or Country where I am living?
8. Children’s Passports and International Travel after Texas Divorce
9. Child Custody Basics for Texas Parents Revisited
10. Child Custody Basics in Texas

Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Houston, Texas Divorce Lawyers

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding Divorce, it’s important to speak with one of our Houston, TX Child Divorce Lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our Divorce lawyers in Spring TX are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC handles Divorce cases in Houston, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County and Waller County.