About Child Custody

What You Need To Know About Child Custody

About child custody much has been written in the last century, since the first laws intending to secure the financial support of children were drafted. The law has been modified a great many times in the ensuing years, and is different in all of the states of the union. There are many controversial aspects, and the arguments will rage for many years to come, while desperate parents struggle to meet orders which they feel are fundamentally unjust and punitive.

In theory at least, the issues of child custody and support are entirely different, as it can be determined that a parent with little or no financial resources is the most suitable to have permanent custody of the child. The other parent will then be forced to contribute financially, whether or not they have any rights to have the child reside with them, or even visitation rights. The courts will never take any interest in the financial support of a child which is still living in the matrimonial home with both parents, but once this situation changes there is a strong possibility of intervention. Courts can determine which of the two parents a child should live with, and the visitation rights of the other party.

The issues of child custody and support are inevitably linked to issues of paternity, which can also be determined by a court. There are many cases where the father of a child has to be determined by DNA testing, which has only recently become admissible as evidence in courts. Even DNA testing remains controversial, as there are those who doubt the accuracy of some low copy number techniques which involve magnification of small samples. Even more controversial is the fact that some men have been forced to pay child support even after it has been proven that they are not the biological father or the child.

After the necessary choices about child custody have been made by the courts, there is then the matter of visitation rights. It is common for children to spend some time with the parent who does not have custody, even to the extent of some days living in a different home. Even if that does not happen, there is usually a desire on behalf of the courts to ensure that the child retains contact with both parents. The times and lengths of visits are often laid down inflexibly, although there is always the possibility of having the order redetermined.

Once the issues of custody and visitation are determined, there is the need to make sure that the child is supported financially. This is one of the most controversial aspects of the paternity issue, as the child support industry has now grown so large that fifty thousand men are incarcerated in jails at any given time for failing to pay child maintenance. Part of the problem is caused by the fact that state governments receive a subsidy from the Federal Government for every dollar in maintenance that they collect, which encourages rapacious and unjust verdicts.

There has much argument about child custody in recent years, as the system is clearly failing and ever more ridiculous and life-destroying verdicts are being reached. It is inevitable that there are many lobbying for change, and many of the greatest supporters of the male cause are actually women. They believe that as a woman has the unilateral choice of whether or not the child is born the father should be able to opt out of all support duties if they desire to. This argument has even presented in court cases, with the inevitable result that it was defeated as it not on any statute books.

The law is becoming even more frightening to divorced fathers, many of whom were able to escape intolerably harsh judgments by crossing international borders. Some fathers even kidnapped their own children in violation of court orders, knowing that there were jurisdictions in which the judgments would never be enforced. This is becoming virtually impossible to do, as there are international treaties in place to ensure that a judgment in one jurisdiction can be enforced in another. Any father who takes their child across a border is likely to be arrested and the child returned to the mother.

Learning about child custody law is a prerequisite if you are likely to become involved in such a case, although legal representation will often be needed. If you know the individual circumstances in your state you will at least be able to avoid making an elementary mistake which would jeopardize what you want to happen. Even if it is unlikely that you will get custody of the child, you can still increase your chances of good access rights and a fairer maintenance schedule if you are able to present your case well. Find a specialist lawyer who knows about child custody.

Alex Blaken

 

 

 

 

 

Articles

• About Child Custody
• Child Custody And Support
• Custody Lawyers
• Divorce And Children
• Shared Custody Child Support
• Family Law Attorneys
• Child Support Services
• Child Support
• Child Custody Attorney
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• Custodial Parent
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• Child Custody Modification
• Getting Child Custody
• Child Custody For Fathers



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