If you are undergoing a divorce and have children, you have heard the term “in the best interest of the child.” This is the most important standard the New York courts will use to determine child custody and visitation.

There are no bruises, cuts, concussions or broken bones – but there are broken hearts and broken spirits. Emotional abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse, and perhaps even more so. Emotional abuse of children may include verbal assaults—such as a barrage of criticism and insults—or isolating, terrorizing, ignoring, rejecting, neglecting or exploiting a child.

Among the most difficult and heart-wrenching parts of any divorce is child custody. Even under the best of circumstances, such as an “amicable” (uncontested) divorce, divorce is inevitably hard on children. What happens when your child has to speak in the custody hearing?

Bitterness over terms of the divorce can cause one parent to be especially critical of how their ex is raising a child. What happens, though, when a parent is truly unfit to be caring for and raising a child? How do you prove it—and when do the courts intervene?

New York child custody cases can, understandably, be quite emotional. Most parents want their children to have the best, healthiest, and happiest lives possible and are only at odds when they and their ex disagree over how to provide such lives. While coming to a custody agreement out of court is generally preferable, there are plenty of circumstances in which litigation becomes necessary.