How does a father get rights to his child

What Are A Biological Father’s Rights As It Pertains To Child Custody?…

Biological parents have a right to seek legal or physical custody of their child or child visitation, regardless of whether they were married or not when the child was born. As a father, you are still a biological parent, and so you have as many parental rights to your child as their biological mother does. Contrary to what many people believe, fathers have the same rights as mothers regarding child custody in a divorce.

What If I Was Not Present at the Birth of My Child?

Even if you are an unmarried father, or you were absent at the birth of your child, you still have rights under Kentucky Law. Fathers who were not married when their child was born must legally establish paternity in order to gain access to father’s rights. Often, this simply means both parents signing and filing an acknowledgment of paternity with the court, either at the time of the child’s birth or afterward. In disputed paternity cases, a legal process including DNA testing will conclude with a court order stating whether the man in question is the child’s biological father.

Child Custody Factors

Child custody is based on several factors, including the best interest of the child. Often one parent may be better suited to parenthood than the other. In these cases, it will probably be necessary to have the court intervene and make a determination for the best custody arrangement and visitation schedule. In order to seek custody, you will need to prove your commitment to having a relationship with the child. You will need to provide evidence to satisfy the court regarding your involvement in the child’s life. The most common types of evidence offered in a child custody case include witnesses, journals, emails, text messages, voicemails, letters, photographs, videos, audio recordings, schedules, and records such as financial, medical, school, and police reports.

Evidence To Prove Your Involvement With Your Child May Include…

Photos of you with your child
School reports
Insurance or medical bills
birthday cards you sent
Cashed checks
Sports involvement
phone call log

What Are the Best Interests of the Child?

Although there is no standard definition of “best interests of the child,” the term generally refers to the deliberation that courts undertake when deciding what type of services, actions, and orders will best serve a child as well as who is best suited to take care of a child. “Best interests” determinations are generally made by considering a number of factors related to the child’s circumstances and the parent or caregiver’s circumstances and capacity to parent, with the child’s ultimate safety and well-being the paramount concern. Your ability to care for your child’s financial, emotional, and social needs will be considered by the court when determining a child custody arrangement. Failure to show commitment to being involved in the child’s life may compromise your ability to seek custody.

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What Rights Does A Father Have To See His Child?

Regular Post

Written by Canterbury Law Group

27 May 2019

What Rights Does A Father Have To See His Child?

Fatherhood comes with many responsibilities and rights. It is important to understand your rights especially when it comes to child custody proceedings. Read more to learn about your rights and how to protect them.

(480) 744-7711

There is a big difference between a married father’s rights and an unmarried father’s rights to see his child. What rights does a father have to see his child? A married father shares equal custody rights (legal decision making and parenting time) to see his child vs an unmarried father who has no custody rights unless he can establish paternity. A married father shares legal and physical custody of their child. Legal custody includes welfare, health, educational, and legal decision making involving the child.

The Rights Of The Unmarried Father

Traditionally, fathers who are unmarried have found the field of parental rights difficult to navigate because there was a lack of laws in their favor to establish and enforce their rights. However, times have changed, and it is no longer easy for a biological mother to prevent the biological father from creating a legal relationship with their child or children. In today’s world, there are now many options for fathers to assert paternity through the legal system.

Paternity is a legal determination establishing the biological father of a child (or children). Paternity can be established by filing an “acknowledgment” statement with your state’s department of vital records. To make it valid and binding, it must be signed by both parents. Should the mother of the child (or children) make an objection to your claim of paternity, it can be established once you have a filed a paternity suit in your local court. A judge will consider the paternity case and make a determination regarding the biological father of the child or children. The court will order a DNA or blood test to determine biological fatherhood. A judge can also make a determination on custody or visitation rights as part of the paternity suit process. If the DNA matches, the paternity case proceeds. Without a DNA match, the case will be dismissed because you are not the Father.

Married Father’s Rights to His Child

According to Arizona Law, married fathers share equal custody rights, also known as legal decision making, with the mother of their child. In you are a married father in Arizona, you are automatically presumed to be the biological father of the child. This means you do not have to establish paternity in order to participate in major decision such as religious training, education, or medical treatment. Sharing equal custody also means you could be responsible for child support and more in the event of a divorce.

A Fathers’ Custody Rights

Once your child (or children) are born, the court will make a presumption you are the father, if you were married to the mother at the time of the birth. If you have established paternity, you could get custodial rights to your child even if you were unmarried at the time of the birth of the child. Legal custody of a child gives the parent the authority to do the following:

Right to make decisions about the welfare of the child.
Right to make decisions about the medical care of the child.
Right to make decisions about the religious upbringing care of the child.
Right to make decisions about the education of the child.

The term “physical custody” refers to the living arrangements of the child (or children.) As a Dad, you are equal in this regard as Mothers do not have any additional entitlement to the custody of their child (or children) absent a showing of questionable parental fitness.

A Joint Parenting Plan agreement may be arranged between the father and the mother of the child (or children.) Otherwise, the court can decide this on your behalf. A Judge will turn the schedule of parenting into a binding visitation and custody order that must be followed by both parents. If the terms of the agreement are not being maintained, you may ask the court to intervene. This is taken very seriously as the parent who does not obey the terms of a custody order can face fines, even jail time as well as be held in contempt of court.

Child Support Payments

Fathers who have primary custody of the child (or children) have the same rights to receive child support as mothers who have primary custody of the child (or children.) Even in circumstances where a parent is interfering with visitation rights, child support must still be paid on time. When a parent is preventing you from visitation with your child (or children) it is time to consult a family law attorney.

If My Child’s Mother Remarries, What Are My Rights?

Typically, your rights as a biological parent take priority over the rights of a stepparent. Think very carefully, if the stepparent of your child (or children) desires to adopt the kids. Generally, adoption will end your rights as a parent. Visitation previously ordered by the court will no longer be valid. The new parents will have no obligation under current law to allow you access to your child (or children.)

Speak With Our Father’s Rights Attorneys In Scottsdale

(480) 744-7711

Our Father’s Rights, child custody, and guardianship attorneys in Phoenix and Scottsdale address your case with concern and personal attention, and always have you and your children’s best interest in mind when offering legal solutions.

We are experienced family law attorneys and will work with you to obtain the best possible outcome in your situation. You can trust us to represent you fully, so you can get on with your life. Call today for an initial consultation! 480-744-7711.

*This information is not intended to be legal advice. Please contact Canterbury Law Group today to learn more about your personal legal needs.

Why parental rights can be taken away from a father or mother - grounds

If parental status is used not to raise a full-fledged member of society, but to the detriment of a child, the guardianship and guardianship authorities decide to remove it. The grounds for deprivation of parental rights are described in the Family Code of the Russian Federation (Article 69). If the child is not the only one in the family, the decision to remove parental authority is made for each minor on an individual basis. It is impossible to make a decision on the deprivation of parental rights for all children at once - a separate case is opened for each of them. nine0003

Grounds for deprivation of parental rights

Article 69 of the Family Code of Russia contains an exhaustive list of grounds on which the court can make an appropriate decision in relation to the mother or father of the child. Among such grounds:

failure to fulfill parental duties,
unwillingness to take their child from medical or social institutions (inpatient department, kindergarten, boarding school), abuse of parental rights,
child abuse, chronic alcoholism or drug use,
intentional crime against family.

Among such crimes : involvement of a child or teenager in immoral acts, drug addiction or alcoholism. As a rule, a complaint is submitted to the organization dealing with issues of guardianship and guardianship from neighbors, employees of preschool, school or medical institutions. All the circumstances set forth in it are carefully checked. And, if the measures provided for such cases do not give a result, the listed entities receive the right to apply to the court with the appropriate claim. nine0003

Measures that are aimed at correcting the behavior of parents can be informational support and assistance from social guardianship authorities , preventive conversations and repeated warnings about what can lead to deprivation of parental rights, or to limit the influence of a parent on a child. Employees of the relevant organizations take note of such families and conduct regular raids to check the conditions in which he lives. If the situation gradually normalizes, then supervision is gradually reduced, but in case of relapses, social guardianship authorities can petition against the father, mother, or both at once. The basis for the deprivation of parental rights may be a committed and absolutely proven crime against the second of the spouses and / or the child. In the latter case, social workers can take him away without waiting for a court decision to remove parental status, given that the health or life of the baby is in danger. nine0003

Failure to fulfill parental responsibilities

Every child has the right to timely food, seasonal clothing, medical care, and pre-school and school attendance. Regular neglect of elementary actions aimed at meeting the basic needs of the child can be considered a malicious evasion of parental responsibilities. This serves as the basis for the close attention of the guardianship and guardianship authorities and, if the situation cannot be changed through observation, checks and warnings, to file a claim. nine0003

A mother can be deprived of parental rights for regularly repeating situations that lead to a distortion of moral principles. The child begins to humiliate those who are weaker and younger, to be rude to elders, to commit petty theft, to drink alcohol. Evasion of the payment of alimony also serves as a reason for depriving the father or mother of the parental status. Its signs: regular violations of the terms of payments, an underestimated amount, the creation of moments that prevent the free receipt of money. If maintenance payments do not come for reasons beyond the payer's control (serious health disorder, disability), then the grounds for depriving the parental rights of the father of the child or his mother are not confirmed. nine0003

Clear unwillingness or categorical refusal to take the child away from a social or medical institution. Such institutions include maternity wards, orphanages, boarding schools, and so on. If the decision of the parents to leave the child in one of these institutions is voluntary and is confirmed by an appropriate application, they are deprived of parental rights in the manner prescribed by law. If this measure is forced and temporary, for example, a mother or father leaves the child due to disability, sudden deterioration in health, lack of housing, but are going to pick it up as soon as circumstances change, there are no grounds for making an appropriate decision. nine0003

Repeated abuse of parental rights. This is the most difficult point on the list of grounds to prove, because the line between the manifestations of parental authority and the abuse of it is too thin. The paragraphs of Art. 73 of the Family Code - rights are only limited. The grounds for deprivation of parental rights may be the constant coercion of a child into actions of an immoral nature that corrupt the personality. These include prostitution, begging, etc. How a mother can be deprived of parental rights in this case can be suggested by an experienced lawyer or an employee from a guardianship organization. nine0003

Child abuse

It doesn't matter if physical or psychological abuse occurs in the family. Parents are deprived of their rights when the child is constantly inflicted with bodily harm, regardless of the severity, sexual violence, threats, suppression of the will, and the presence of signs of intimidation or other threats to the physical health of the child or his psychological state.

Chronic alcoholism or drug addiction

The most common reason for which a mother or father can be deprived of parental rights is the regular use of strong drinks or drugs. True, more often this applies to fathers, but women in the family sometimes do not lag behind men. But, in order to make such a decision in court, chronic alcoholism must be confirmed by a conclusion from the relevant medical institution. Moreover, a candidate for deprivation of parental rights must be repeatedly sent for compulsory treatment, and only if it is recognized as ineffective, a lawsuit is filed. Domestic drunkenness, even regular, is not the basis for such a step. nine0003

Intentional crime against a husband/wife and/or child

Murder, inducing to the state of suicide, ignoring a dangerous situation that led to a tragic outcome, as well as attempting to commit such crimes - this is an approximate list of what they can terminate parental rights. If the crime was conceived and committed against the spouse, it does not matter whether the child was a witness to it or not. The basis is the verdict passed in court on the fact of the conceived and committed crime. nine0003

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Restriction of parental rights

For some actions, the court may not resort to extreme measures, but only limit the sphere of influence of parents in the upbringing of the child. nine0021 This measure is applied when one of the parents has a mental illness, chronic alcoholism, a disease that can result in disability. Sometimes the court decides that the restriction of parental rights can be implemented as a warning. The basis is, for example, a single case of negligent attitude to the upbringing of a child. A period is set during which this measure will be in force and, if parental behavior does not begin to meet the requirements for parents as a result, then there is a basis for deprivation of parental rights. nine0003

Consequences of restriction and deprivation of parental rights

If the court decides to deprive parental rights, the mother or father loses the possibility of any influence on the child. They do not live with him, do not have the right to interfere in the process of education, do not receive any social payments or benefits that are associated with the child, are deprived of the right to inherit any property that belongs or will ever belong to him. If the family lived in public housing before the court decision, the parents can be evicted from there without providing an alternative option. nine0003

When a decision is made to restrict parental rights, the parents also do not live with the child and lose their rights to any social benefits and payments . But the lack of participation in his upbringing does not give them the right to evade the alimony paid in the amount established in court for his maintenance. Sometimes parents can meet with the child, provided that his physical and psychological state does not worsen after such meetings. The decision on the expediency of such meetings is made by the guardians. nine0003

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The mother asked to be released from her child support debt, and she was deprived of her parental rights

Osmolovskaya Olesya

Lawyer for family affairs, law office "Right to the Family"

December 22, 2022

Tips

“The woman did not see her son for 6 years, she did not pay alimony, but she regularly received child benefits. After trying to get rid of the alimony debt through the court, she lost her parental rights, but not the obligation to support the child,” said Olesya Osmolovskaya, the lawyer of the boy’s father

The beginning of a family drama: the child stayed with his father

This story began back in 2014. A man approached me with a request to help him achieve in court the determination of the place of residence of his 9-year-old son with him. The boy had already lived with his father for about a month, and he did not want to give the child to his mother.

The man collected an impressive package of medical documents that confirmed the child's illness and his need for special care. I had to prove that the mother did not provide such care. A year later, the court determined the place of residence of the child with his father. nine0003

The denouement of the drama: the mother was deprived of parental rights

In 2021, the man again turned to me for help, this time with a request to protect the interests of him and his son. He explained that the child's mother had filed a lawsuit to release her from the repayment of alimony arrears and change their amount.