A friend has been contemplating divorce for a few months now. I recommended he keep his thoughts hidden so that if he decides to go forward he'd be at an advantage (or really even) as a man in family court. Unfortunately, he has discussed divorce with his wife multiple times in the last few weeks. Now I feel under the gun to help him get things situated before she surprises him with divorce papers. Here are the facts:

  • They've been married less than a year
  • They have a child
  • The wife was diagnosed with multiple mental disorders, including BPD, a fact she hid until after her marriage. See the following RP post on BPD, the horror stories are true.
  • The location is Northeast Ohio.
  • She does have a very small income (roughly $5000 annually)
  • He used to have a shit job, but new job has smallish salary but is mostly is now completely commission based
  • He only wants to see the kid 2 days a week (only in the first few years of the child's life, after which he may pursue majority custody)
  • He is now deciding between full custody and a 50/50 split
  • He at least wants joint custody so that he has input on the child's life

I'm looking for advice on how to select a good red pill lawyer, and I'm also looking for advice on how to minimize or eliminate child support (open to any tactic).

I think getting full custody of the child would be easier than normal considering her history of mental instability. However, I'm not sure he would want to solely take care of the kid (he's commonly talked about wanting to see him only on the weekends or every other weekend). That being said, she is the most chronically irresponsible person I have ever known which is why he does not want to pay her to take care of the kid but is definitely not against using his money as he sees fit to support the child.

I'll answer any questions you may have.

EDIT: Could an agreement be made between the two to limit future or present child support?

EDIT 4: I explained to him that he's not going to be able to change custody in the future. It's now up to him whether he wants to fight for full custody or have a 50/50 split.

Thanks for all of the advice guys, every comment on here has been very helpful. Seriously, every comment was helpful for me to compile information and explain things to him and the realistic expectations he should have.