Fathers rights in child custody disputes have traditionally taken second place to those afforded to the mother.
However this has been changing in the last few decades and more liberal and progressive judges are affording greater importance to fathers child custody rights. This will vary from state to state and from judge to judge but there has been a progressive move towards recognizing fathers custody rights in a fairer fashion.

The United States Census bureau reported about years ago that fathers were awarded custody in 15% of cases and this figure has risen steadily. If you are a dad who has suffered the breakdown of a marriage or relationship with your child involved then you need to educate yourself as to the possibilities of a satisfactory child custody outcome for you, your child and former partner..yes, even her.

Different states have slightly different child custody laws and guidelines for child support etc. In fact, when you are seeking a divorce some states insist that you also seek custody at this point. Ultimately the family law courts are guided by one thing when deciding on a child custody agreement or dispute and is mandated by law to be guided by what is in the best interests of the child.

Generally, the courts will decide what is in the best interests of the child by looking at

• 1. the parents ability form a physical and mental perspective to care for the child

• 2. who has been the primary caretaker of the child on a day to day basis
• 3. who makes the important day to day decisions concerning the child such as schooling, taking the child to the doctor,dentist etc.
• 4. who guides the child in his/her daily life in areas such as personal hygiene, doing homework from school etc.

Fathers are looking at two main custody options, namely legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody means that you make all of the major, global decisions concerning the child’s welfare, health, schooling etc. Physical custody is the day to day care of the child which will involve the child living with you. Within these two broad parameters the more likely outcome is joint or shared custody. This will involve both parents being involved in joint legal custody and physical custody, the latter involving shared parenting.

This is a common outcome but will depend on the attitude of the court as to how disruptive any shared parenting arrangement that is agreed is for the child. If you are a dad and you have fallen behind with child support payments, this on it’s own is not enough to have your custody rights set aside or ignored.

The whole idea of child support is to support the child and even though you may have fallen behind in this area, you are still entitled as the child’s father to a major say in the child’s life and upbringing. Other issues such as violence, abusing your partner or child, substance abuse will prove to be much more difficult hurdles for you if you seek to persuade a court that you should play an important role in the child’s life.

This cuts both ways though and if you are concerned that the mother of your child is abusing drugs,alcohol or engages in inappropriate relationships or behavior, then your custody case is all the stronger. In Colorado, the Colorado Clean air act allows fathers to prove that the mother’s smoking habit is detrimental to the child’s best interests.

Clearly something like this will help you in asserting your fathers rights to child custody. Regardless of the behavior of either parent or their rights the court must act in the best interests of the child and any agreement that you come to with your former partner will be set aside if it does not meet this basic threshold.