Applying the guidelines of Beyond the Best Interests of the Child

Although the wisdom of the guidelines advocated in Beyond the Best Interests of the Child for making custody and visitation decisions is widely proclaimed, the realities of existing statutes and procedural systems preclude their simple application to present-day custody cases. It is the purpose of this paper to join the efforts of others in attempting to delineate how the theoretical policies and abstract strategies comprising these guidelines can be implemented under the constraints of present realities. This effort takes the form of three disguised cases to which is added the author's commentary on his interventions and recommendations.