A previous post here discussed the public fight of two musicians over the custody of their young son. As is becoming a more accepted trend than it was in the past, the judge in that case acknowledged the rights of the father despite the child’s mother’s efforts to thwart the dad from having custodial rights to his child. With courts increasingly seeing the value of including both mothers and fathers in the lives of children, fathers can take steps to encourage courts to include them in their children’s custody determinations.
Fathers who are not named on their kids’ birth certificates may wish to have themselves added in order to establish paternity and rights to child custody. While having the child’s mother acknowledge the father is the most straightforward way for a man to be recognized as a father, some men may have to submit to paternity testing in order to establish their roles in their kids’ lives.
Once a man is recognized as a child’s father he may advocate for his rights to custody and visitation with his offspring. A man may wish to have physical custody of his child. While courts are now favoring joint custody arrangements between mothers and fathers, fathers who believe that it is in their children’s best interests can fight for sole physical custody of their kids. Fathers can also advocate for joint or sole legal custody of their children.
The traditional role of a mother as caregiver has slowly eroded as women have taken work out of the home and the composition of families has changed. Men have rights when they are recognized as fathers and they may fight for custody and visitation rights with their kids. Getting the right information can help them understand the steps to gain custody of their kids and the legal significance of their rights as fathers.
