NCJ Number
199202
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 89 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 38-43
Date Published
February 2003
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examines issues in the debate over child custody in divorce cases and the traditional tendency of the courts to give priority to maternal custody.
Abstract
In opposition to family courts' tradition of awarding custody to mothers in divorce cases and in cases of unwed parents, fathers' rights advocates have lobbied several States to adopt a legal preference for joint custody, to have stricter enforcement of noncustodial fathers' visitation rights, and to require DNA paternity tests in child support proceedings. In focusing on these issues, fathers' rights advocates claim family courts too often discourage divorced or unwed fathers from playing a positive role in their children's lives. In arguing this issue, data on the prevalence of delinquency among children who have not bonded to their fathers is cited. Some feminists and scholars dispute this data as well as the broad claim that fathers are essential to healthy child-rearing. Still, frustrated by what they perceive as the courts' unfair preference for mothers in custody cases, fathers' rights groups have convinced 11 States and the District of Columbia to declare a general presumption in favor of joint custody, with 12 other States adopting a preference for joint custody if agreed to by both parents. Experts advise that joint custody works best when both parties agree about the benefit of significant and regular contact with both parents, agree to respect the other parent's equal role in their children's lives, agree that they will place the interests of the children as the primary consideration, and agree that the children will not be put in the middle of the dispute. As politicians, professors, and pundits debate policy and spar over statistics, it is the responsibility of family lawyers to help parents build a healthy home life for their children after a marriage has fallen apart.