Fathers’ Rights
Child custody standards have evolved considerably in recent decades, but many fathers' rights advocates argue that the judicial system still favors the mother in custody determinations. A 2002 study conducted by the United States Census Bureau reports that 15% of custodial parents were men.
Fathers' rights advocates have rallied around what they view as holdover discrimination from the days in which most states automatically granted custody to the mother unless she was shown to be unfit. Discussions of fathers' rights have been brewing since the 1960s, but have escalated dramatically in the past decade in the form of advocacy groups, legal counsel, political reform and other measures to increase awareness of issues that face fathers during divorce.
Below are some of the most important issues parents encounter in a divorce, and how they affect a father's role in both divorce and the future lives of his children.
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Fathers' Rights and Child Custody
Once upon a time, the law in many states specifically gave a preference, or even a presumption, to the mother in child custody cases. Since that began to change, practices in varying jurisdictions-sometimes even different courts within the same county-have varied. While some judges have stuck close to the original presumption in their practices, others have swung in the other direction, attempting to right what they see as past unfairness to fathers.
Many fathers' rights groups have pushed for shared custody arrangements with their children, which they see as most fair when it comes to allowing each parent equal time with the child and equal influence over parenting. However, many states interpret the mandate to follow "the best interests of the child" as a sole physical custody arrangement, in which case fathers' rights advocates are seeking equal chance to make their case for sole physical custody.
Visitation Rights for Fathers
Once the court decides on which parent will receive physical custody of the child, the visitation rights for the non-custodial parent will be decided, and these are typically generous. Most jurisdictions have a standard minimum visitation schedule. However, in practice, sole physical custody arrangements with visitation rights can develop into an ongoing battle for non-custodial parents-most often fathers. Advocates of fathers' rights want to make sure that if the father is the non-custodial parent, that the father is afforded the benefits he is due as a legal custodian of the child during visitations. The father should be allowed to spend time with the child without interference, and custodial mothers should be prevented from moving to impractical distances to prevent frequent visitation or hinder the father's legal right to parenting influence.