If you are a non-parent seeking custody, be mindful of the fact that if your petition fails that the dissidence may occur as a result of the filing.  Unless you are almost certain of prevailing, try to foster a open and honest level of communication so that legitimate concerns about child rearing can be addressed directly with that parent.  Because subsequently filing a visitation petition may also be futile if  the natural parent has discord for you, because visitation rights of a non-parent are not inherent as parents’ and thus, any violations of court ordered visitation will be trivialized by most courts.