Laws Regarding a Father's Rights
In the United States each state possesses its own standards for a father's rights in child custody and visitation rights based on the well being of the child interacting with their father, such as substance abuse problems, and the degree that the particular parent desires to participate in the child's life. Before mothers were given more custody priorities; however, in recent years courts are granting fathers more custody responsibilities and visitation rights.
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Adoption
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If a woman gets pregnant and wants to give the child up for adoption, the father of the baby possesses certain rights. If the father recognizes his role as the father, then his consent is needed before the mother can give the baby up for adoption. The father will need to file a paternal action acknowledging his parental privilege as the father of the baby. It should be taken into consideration that fathers' rights differ from state to state.
Joint Custody
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A divorce case where both parents will be granted some level of custody over the children is called joint custody. There are three types of joint custody: joint physical custody (a child spends a significant amount of time with each parent); joint legal custody (educational, medical, religious and/or other significant decisions affecting the child's life are made by both parents); and both joint legal and joint physical custody. In the United States every state's courts easily grant joint legal custody, but courts are hesitant to grant joint physical custody. In most cases courts grant joint physical custody with both parents' consent, and if it is apparent that both parents are able to properly communicate with one another. A great resource for custody information is available through the Legal Information Institute (see Resources section).
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Favoritism Toward Mothers
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Historically in most states courts granted custody of a child of a "tender age," which refers to children 5 years old and younger, to the mother. Now most states ignore basing custody rights on the gender of the parent, whether it is a child of tender age or not; instead, courts decide custody rights based on the child's well being. Regardless of the non-sexist attitude of the courts, most divorcing parents still decide to grant custody to the mother, which includes living arrangements, and providing fathers with open visitation rights.
Discrimination in Custody Cases
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Courts in many states, particularly in southeastern states, allow judges to deny parent custody, or even visitation rights based on a parent's sexual orientation. However, it must be proven that the father's homosexuality poses as a threat to the child's well being. Courts in several states, such as Alaska, California, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, have regulated automatic custody or visitation rights denial based on a father's homosexuality preserving the father's rights.
Parenting Agreements
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In order for both parents to avoid future conflict, courts highly recommend parents to obtain a parenting agreement, which is a written agreement. The parenting agreement determines how parents will schedule visitation rights, especially holidays, as well as legal custody decisions, such as discipline methods, education, religion and other significant parenting techniques. In addition, a parenting agreement protects a father's rights to custody or visitation based on the parents' initial agreement.
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