Can I argue perjury during a custodial trial before the order is written? If so, who would I need I speak to and how would I do it?

Question

Can I argue perjury during a custodial trial before the order is written? If so, who would I need I speak to and how would I do it?

Answer

You can argue perjury or anything else. This is not going to materially advance your case in most situations. People lie in court all of the time. Perjury is seldom prosecuted. It is a crime and is prosecuted by the district attorney.

Rather than waste time with perjury, the goal in a child custody case, is to answer the question "what is in the best interests of the child?" All evidence showing that the child's best interests will be fostered by being with one parent will be infinitely more persuasive. In addition, you can use whatever evidence you have to show that the other parent lied and you can argue that they are not being truthful.

The fact that you are raising this issue suggests that you do not have an attorney. That is bad if the other parent has a lawyer

Is the trial over? If there is indeed evidence that the other parent perjured himself/herself, I would present a motion to the trial court to re-open the proceedings. Or wait until the order is entered and then ask for reconsideration or a new trial based on the new evidence of perjury.

However, if you are the parent on the losing end of the stick, you better discuss this with a family law attorney first before you start raising perjury here.