A Father Rights During Divorce

Divorces are never a pleasant affair, but when children are involved they can turn ugly. Both parents have a vested interest in maintaining a close relationship with their children. There used to be a time that fathers weren’t given due consideration when it came to the custody of children during or after a divorce, this is no longer the case A judge will usually issue a temporary order that governs the behavior of the parties (husband and wife) during the divorce until a final decision on all issues regarding children and finances have been made.

Major Decisions

During a divorce a father will have certain rights when it comes all major decisions that affect the child’s health and wellbeing. These include:

Participating in any school activity and being able to access school records including discussing their child’s performance with the teacher;
Making medical decisions in conjunction with the mother and having access to the child’s medical records;
Having equal say in the choice of religion and practicing of faith of the children;

Custody

A father’s right during a divorce will include the right to both legal and to a certain extent physical custody. Legal custody deals with parents’ rights to make decisions about children and physical custody deals with which parent the children will reside with. Fathers are usually granted joint custody during the course of the divorce. This means that fathers will continue to have the same legal decision making rights as they did before the divorce.

Physical custody can be granted to one parent with visitation rights for the other. Courts will consider the relationship to the children, the financial ability to take care of the children, and even the parenting styles/skills of the parents when making a decision. Fathers have just as much of a chance to be granted physical custody during divorce proceedings as the mother.

Visitation

Spending time with children that are used to seeing both parents daily is essential. The court system has always been clear that it is in the best interests of the child for both parents to spend ample time with the children. During a divorce courts will often award fathers very generous visitation rights with the minor children if he didn’t receive physical custody.

Getting Legal Help

If you are going through a divorce or have decided to file for divorce make sure to seek the services of a licensed family law attorney in your area. Only an attorney can provide you with valuable information about your rights and seek to ensure that when it comes to your children you are given every opportunity to participate in their lives on the level you did before the divorce began.

Thinking About Divorce?