Hi guys, reaching out to hear about what you might have experienced in your custody case. My ex moved out of the family home a few months ago. She has no job, and has had chronic instability in her work history due to struggles with mental health. She is living with her mom right now and has since taken the kids 4 nights a week (after filing) to stay with her. I know this isn't an ideal situation for my kids, and am feeling pretty defeated about how to proceed, she hasn't been willing to compromise much. I am filing a counter to the papers she served and am asking for primary placement in a joint custody arrangement. I have always been the kids stable parent and feel like keeping to their regular routine in the family home during the school week as best we can is important right now.

Anyone here been through this fight before and win? Any advice? I'm worried that the default assumption in family court is that the mother should be the primary guardian and I'll be at a disadvantage going into it. I know everyone likes to say that their ex has mental health problems that affects their ability to maintain stablilty, but I do believe it's true in my case. She has had to step out many times over the years, both emotionally and physically (hospitalizations), and I have always been there for my kids. How personal do family court cases get? I would really rather not go into detail about any of our history in court other than simply stating the facts.