Being a child with parents who are not on good terms anymore can be very damaging to the child’s future. Developing trust issues, inability to make friends, developing depression at an early age are just a few of the effects of separation on a child. That is why parents still decide to stay together only for the child’s essential nurturing that requires both the parents.
However, it sometimes gets difficult to be with a person who does stand on common grounds with you anymore. And in such cases, the parents have to decide on all the belongings. The child, however, is a living being whose future needs to be secured. It is generally a wish for both the parents to be a guardian to the child. But by ethical and legal thinking, the child must be under the guardianship of the parent who is well-suited to be around a growing child.
Here are the details of what you need as a father to have custody of your child post-divorce.
What is the limit of custody a father can have?
If a father proves to have all the qualities of a child-loving person, along with the biological or legal proof of being the father, they can have full custody of the child. Which means he can take legal decisions for the child and be in physical presence with the child. However, if there are complexities in the separation, custody can be divided into physical and legal custody.
With legal custody, the father can have the authority to decide for the child’s life until he’s a certified adult. The child’s legal custody lets the parent decide everything from education, health and treatments, dental decisions, counseling, and religious choices. If the father has sole legal custody, the child’s guardian on paper will only be him, and the mother’s opinions on the child’s life will have no legal effect. The mother may be living with the child or meeting him on days but cannot decide the child’s life.
Either the court may allow sole physical custody with joint legal custody, where the child’s life decisions will be made by both the parents properly. Or there can be sole legal custody and joint physical custody. The child can stay with the mother for specific days of a week but goes to the school, hospital, and church that the father has decided. A trusted family law firm can solve this dispute between parents by getting one parent a supervised visit.
What are the requisites for a father to have full custody?
The court has a single way of doing things, analyzing the proofs, objections, and statements provided by both the parents and then deciding on the child’s best interest with either one of them. Hence, to be a happy single father, you must prove to the court how your ex’s custody will harm the child’s life. Also, the child must be attached to you and should be ready to move out with you. Here are some, out of the several, situations where a father can have the full physical and legal custody of the child-
- If it is proven to the court that the mother has had a history of domestic violence and child abuse, or mental and physical abuse to the child or the father.
- If the mother is proven to have a history of drug or alcohol abuse and has been in and out of therapy.
- If there are witnesses who say the mother has shown neglect or recklessness towards the child.
- If the mother is living in a relationship with a person who can harm the child mentally or physically.
- If the mother cannot afford a stable and secure living environment for the child.
- If the mother is allegedly making false complaints about the father having abusive behavior towards the child.
- If the mother is allegedly planning to move the child without the father’s legal consent.
There are unique points that the court addresses to make this decision. The father may have full custody of the child if he proves to be a caregiver. Despite that, the mother may still have liberal visiting periods to see the child. In the case of mothers with abusive or harmful behavior, supervised visits can be arranged.
For a long time, the mother’s custody has been a ritual of family law courts, and the law firm couldn’t do much for biological fathers and fathers by marriage. But times have changed, and fathers, if mentally and financially capable of taking care of a child, can get full legal and physical custody, given the mother has a history of improper behavior.
