As this blog has discussed on previous occasions, once a man legally establishes paternity over a child, the man has the same legal rights to custody and parenting time as the mother of the child. The only question a court will ask is what is in the best interest of the child.
Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons, a man may still face an uphill battle to develop a relationship with his children. In some cases, the man may have had his own struggles with drug or alcohol addiction or was fighting some other bad habit. In other cases, he may have been wrongly accused of abuse or domestic violence, sometimes just so the mother could get the upper hand in a custody fight.
Our law office is available to represent men facing such circumstances. With respect to false domestic violence claims, we will hold the other side accountable in court to show clear proof that what they are saying about the child’s father is not true. If and when they cannot do so, we will be there to assert the father’s rights to custody and parenting time.
With respect to fathers who have had some honest struggles with addictions, while we think it best to be honest with the court about such struggles, we will work hard to demonstrate to the judge that these past issues are just that, past issues. We will work with other experts and our clients so that they can demonstrate that they have taken the appropriate steps to turn their lives around and that they are fully prepared to develop a relationship with their child.
