Understanding Good Faith Efforts in Family Law
We’re gonna talk about a good-faith effort. My name is Aaron Grubb. I’m the Tahlequah divorce attorney at Wirth Law Office, and in this video, we’re just gonna talk about what a good-faith effort is. So, this has come up recently about, you know, what’s a good-faith effort? I thought this was a court of law and subject to strict rules. It’s a very vague term, and it comes up in a lot of family law cases—wanting to see a good-faith effort put in.
What this is, essentially, is showing the judge that we did our best. You know, we might not have gone above and beyond, but we did our best in trying to work something out between the parties, and it just hasn’t worked. So, you know, an example of this could be a visitation exchange. You know, you can’t get a hold of the other side, and they were supposed to be there at, you know, four o’clock. They’re not there at four o’clock. You get in your car and you drive off at 4:01. That’s not really a good-faith effort.
You know, they might be a couple of minutes late, and even though they’re technically outside or violating a judge’s orders, a judge sees that it’s very de minimis. And so, if you begin to harp on that, then it’s actually gonna make you look like you are doing your best to sabotage this case and kind of waste people’s time.
The Importance of a Good Faith Effort
It’s important to try to put in a good-faith effort. Even in that example, you could argue—well, okay, what if it was 15 minutes late? What if it were 30 minutes late? What if it were an hour late? And all I can say is—it really is a sliding scale. So, you have to proceed with caution.
If you believe that, hey, this is way far beyond what should be allowed, then bring that up to your lawyer, and they can talk about it at the next court case. But in the meantime, make sure that you’re putting in a good-faith effort and you’re trying to facilitate some kind of cooperation or even co-parenting with the other side.
Contact Us for Assistance
So, if you have any kind of family case or an upcoming criminal case, please contact Tahlequah family law attorney Aaron Grubb here at Wirth Law Office.
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