When you're getting divorced, you can make a tough time easier for your children (and yourself) if you work with the other parent to draw up a custody plan and agree on child support. Doskow shows you how negotiation and mediation can keep costs down; where to find your state's child support guidelines; how to enforce and change custody and support orders; what military families need to know, and much more.

"Includes state-specific custody and support rules." -- Cover.

Introduction: your child custody and support companion --Basics of divorce -- Basics of child custody -- Basics of child support -- When you decide to divorce: the fist month -- Avoiding a custody or support trial: alternatives to court -- Dealing with the court: paperwork and court hearings -- Going to trial -- Custody orders: living with, enforcing, and changing them -- Child support orders: living with, enforcing, and changing them -- Worst case scenarios: kidnapping, abuse, and interference with custody -- Custody and support in military families -- The law: how to work with a lawyer and do you own legal research.