Wednesday, 16 September 2009

Fathers Custody Rights - How Can I Make Her Do What The Courts Say?

By Elmo Cook

If you and your spouse are getting a divorce or just separating and there are kids involved the most important task ahead of you is to decide concerning issues such as custody and visitation. Divorce splits the ties between husband and wife, custody breaks the ties of parenting. It is imperative for both parents to remember that every child has a right to a continuing relationship with both parents.

Even though the tendency is being reversed, it is the case that the typical judicial attitude towards custody most often favors women. Many judges still feel that women are naturally better at mothering than fathers are at fathering, and these judges will always show a bias towards the mother. Nevertheless, modern attitudes are changing and fathers are starting to be recognized as having a more significant parenting role. In the case of where the father has visitation rights, these rights must not be interfered with.

Ideally, both parents should work together to make sure that the children get to spend the most time possible with each parent. Unfortunately, all too often this ends up with very little visitation time with the non-custodial parent, and frequent angry arguments concerning delayed visits and children not being ready on time. To offset such problems, lots of judges now prefer the parents to create a considerably detailed custody schedule (known as a parenting plan or parenting agreement) which sets out the visitation schedule and outlines who has responsibility for decisions affecting the children.

If you have agreed on a parenting plan which has been ratified by the court in the final custody decision then you can apply to the court to have your visitation rights enforced. Apart from times when it would be reasonable for visitation times to be changed, such as sickness, appointments, special occasions etc. frequent interference with visitation may even be used as an argument that there is a change in circumstances which can lead to a modification of the custody schedule. In some states it can even be grounds for giving custody to the parent who has had their visitation rights interfered with.

At first, the visitation schedule may be more of a trial periods. each parent has little idea of what changes their relationship with the child might go through as the child grows. Typically visitation schedules do change and it can often be modified without the use of the court. If one parent, however, later reneges on the agreement, because the new agreement hasn't been approved by the court it may be difficult to enforce their rights. So please be sure to get any modifications to the parenting plan court approved.

For the non custodial parent, ensure that your parenting schedule is very precise about your visitation rights, including holidays, the amount of hours and the places you can see your children. Most states consider it a crime to interfere with custody and visitation rights. This is a crime commonly known as "custodial interference". The wronged parent can get assistance from law enforcement officers and can even sue the other person for damages if their custody rights are interfered with.

One area that fathers must be careful in is stopping child support payments because the mother has been interfering with his visitation rights It is a mistake to confuse child support with custody and visitation. Despite what the mother may do, you must always pay child support. There a big penalties for fathers who fail to meet their financial obligations. Every parent has an duty to support his or her children.

A major study identified a revealing connection between custody and visitation schedules, levels of strife and the payment of court-ordered child support. Fathers were more likely to keep up with paying child support when they had regular and frequent daytime and overnight visits with their children. The less involved with their children's lives they became, they became less likely to keep paying child support.

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