A complete system for parents navigating family court. Built by a father who's been through it.
This toolkit has two parts that work together:
- The Obsidian Vault — A structured evidence system you run on your computer
- The Cowork Plugin — An AI assistant that knows family court strategy
You can use either one on its own, or both together for maximum effect.
Before we get into setup, here's what each piece of the toolkit does for you in plain language. No tech jargon.
| What You Get | What It Actually Is | What It Does For You |
|---|---|---|
| The vault template | A folder of blank templates and frameworks | Gives you a complete evidence system from day one instead of spending months figuring out how to organise everything |
| The analysis framework | A 13-point checklist for processing documents | Tells you exactly what to look for in every affidavit, report, and letter — facts, claims, contradictions, patterns, opportunities |
| The attribution standards | Rules for recording quotes accurately | Stops you from making the #1 mistake in family court prep — misquoting someone and destroying your own credibility |
| The evidence matrix | A blank tracker you fill in | Lets you map every allegation against every piece of evidence so you can see at a glance what's proven, disputed, or missing |
| The contradiction engine | A structured analysis sheet | Gives you a way to find where the other party's story changes between documents or conflicts with professional findings |
| The 8 templates | Fill-in-the-blank formats for each document type | You don't have to figure out what information to capture — incidents, communications, affidavits, court orders, patterns, legal letters, strategy notes, person profiles are all pre-structured |
| The dashboard | Auto-updating queries across your vault | As you add documents, patterns surface automatically — contact blocking, alienation indicators, system failures all show up in one view |
| The Claude plugin | AI assistant training file | Turns Claude from a general assistant into something that understands family court methodology and can analyse documents, find contradictions, and build strategy with you |
You download a zip file. You unzip it. You get a folder full of text files. You download Obsidian (a free app). You open the folder in Obsidian. Suddenly all those text files become an interconnected system — you can click links between documents, the dashboard runs live queries, and the templates are ready to fill in.
From there you fill in your case details, start adding your documents, and follow the analysis framework. The vault is the structure — you bring your own evidence. No AI needed, no code, no tech skills.
You download a small file called family-court-strategist.plugin. You open it in the Claude desktop app. Claude asks if you want to install it. You click yes. Now Claude has five new skills.
You select your case folder, and you can say things like "set up my case" and Claude walks you through everything. You upload an affidavit and say "analyse this" — Claude runs the full 13-point forensic protocol. You say "what am I missing" — Claude finds the gaps. You say "is my lawyer doing their job" — Claude flags the red flags.
The plugin is what makes Claude think like a legal strategist instead of a general assistant. Without it, Claude is smart but doesn't know the methodology. With it, Claude knows exactly what to look for, how to cross-reference, and how to build your case.
This isn't a note-taking app or a filing system. It's a methodology — a 13-point forensic protocol, a contradiction engine, coincidence mapping, lawyer accountability framework, and attribution standards — all developed through 18 months of real court proceedings. Every part of it exists because something went wrong without it.
When you download this toolkit, on day one you have what took months of real-world experience to build. That's the value.
A ready-to-go folder structure that turns Obsidian (a free note-taking app) into a legal intelligence system. It includes templates, analysis frameworks, dashboards, and everything you need to organise your case like a professional.
- Download Obsidian from obsidian.md (free for personal use)
- Copy the
obsidian-vaultfolder to your computer and rename it to your case name - Open Obsidian → "Open folder as vault" → select your folder
- Install the Dataview community plugin (Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "Dataview" → Install → Enable)
- Open
HOME.md— this is your starting point
- Fill in
CASE-DETAILS.mdwith your court number, parties, and solicitor details - Add everyone to
PEOPLE-MAP.mdand create profiles in/people/ - Upload your first document and analyse it using the templates in
/_templates/ - Start building your
MASTER-TIMELINE.md - Check the
DASHBOARD.mdto see your data come alive
| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
_system/ |
Analysis framework (13-point protocol) and attribution standards |
_templates/ |
8 templates for different document types |
analysis/ |
Evidence matrix, contradiction engine, coincidence map |
legal-documents/ |
Court filings, affidavits, reports, orders |
communications/ |
SMS, email, phone records |
timeline/ |
Individual event notes |
people/ |
Profiles of everyone involved |
legal-research/ |
Case law and statutory references |
A plugin for Claude's Cowork mode that gives Claude five specialised skills for family court cases. It's like having a legal strategist available 24/7 who can analyse your documents, find contradictions, track your lawyer, and help build your strategy.
- Open the
family-court-strategist.pluginfile — Claude will prompt you to install it - In Cowork, select your vault folder as your workspace
- Start with "set up my case" or "analyse this document"
| Say This | Claude Will |
|---|---|
| "Set up my case" | Walk you through creating a complete evidence vault |
| "Analyse this document" | Run the 13-point forensic analysis on any document you upload |
| "Review my evidence" | Cross-reference your entire vault for contradictions and gaps |
| "Is my lawyer doing their job?" | Evaluate solicitor performance, costs, and flag concerns |
| "What should I do next?" | Build evidence-based strategy and preparation checklists |
This system helps you:
- Track every piece of advice and whether it served your interests
- Catch contradictions and evidence your lawyer might miss
- Hold them accountable on costs and actions
- Prepare informed questions for every meeting
- Know if you're being pushed into a bad settlement
This system helps you:
- Build your case with the same rigour a legal team would use
- Understand what documents you need and how to analyse them
- Identify patterns that support your arguments
- Prepare for hearings with evidence-based checklists
- Know when you need professional help and what to ask
- Every claim needs a source. If you can't link it to a document, it's not evidence.
- Every quote needs attribution. Who said it, to whom, per whose account, paragraph reference.
- Patterns beat incidents. Two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern. Five is undeniable.
- Document everything in real time. The best evidence is contemporaneous.
- Be honest about your weaknesses. Knowing where you're vulnerable is as important as knowing where you're strong.
- The child comes first. Always. In every argument, every strategy, every decision.
- This is a case organisation and analysis tool, not legal advice
- Always seek independent legal advice for major decisions
- Based on Australian family law but the methodology works in any jurisdiction
- The system is only as strong as the evidence you put into it
Built by a father. For fathers. And any parent who refuses to be a passenger in their own case.