There are a lot of good reasons to hire a custody lawyer. Whether it’s to protect your assets or start the process of your child’s permanent placement, it’s always a good idea to have a legal professional on your side.

1. If your child custody case is too complicated for a local family court

Let’s start with an easy one. If your divorce, or custody case, isn’t that complicated but your local family court is too, don’t let yourself be dictated to by a local court that doesn’t have jurisdiction.

While there is no doubt that family courts have jurisdiction over family matters, you may not know that certain laws have been passed to protect children involved in divorce proceedings. There are certain issues that local courts simply cannot hear because of the laws passed by Congress for child custody cases.

Such cases can be heard in state and federal courts. Those cases, though, are more complicated and could take years to reach their conclusions. If you want to have an attorney on your side early on, your best bet is to hire an attorney who can represent you in both state and federal courts. In fact, you may find it beneficial to have two different attorneys, one for each court.

2. If you and your spouse don’t speak the same language

If your child custody case is complicated because your divorce is being handled in a foreign country, it’s not a huge deal. You can have your attorney represent you in the foreign country and at least file all of your court documents, which you will then translate into a native language.

If, however, you and your spouse don’t speak the same language, you may get in trouble because you’re not hearing the full and accurate story about what’s happening.

If you’ve been in a long-term custody battle and it may be triggering severe depression or PTSD in your child, you need to get a better handle on what is really happening. Your child needs to see you happily married. Whether your marriage is working or not, your child needs to see your commitment to being a father.

Most single mother custody battles are long, drawn-out court battles. It’s very difficult to win these cases without an attorney. A child support lawyer can help make sure that you understand the process and that you do everything possible to win your case.

3. If you’re not being heard

If you and your spouse are having a hard time communicating and that’s making your custody case much more complicated than it should be, a custody lawyer can help.

If you’re not being heard by your spouse, you may be distracted by anger and resentment. If you’re not being heard by the court, you may be too emotional and not thinking rationally. A custody lawyer can help your lawyer get you more of the hearing time and information that you need to make a good decision.