As a father heading toward a divorce, whether you filed for the divorce or your spouse did, you may be worried about losing time with your children. Many fathers are actively worried that the court system is biassed against them and they fear a judge taking their children away and allowing their mother to care for them without the father’s involvement. Does this really happen and should you be concerned about it?
It certainly can happen. There is a documented history of courts displaying some level of bias against fathers. This is perhaps most often true with young children. The courts often seem to believe that fathers will not do as good of a job of nurturing and raising the children, and so they give significant weight to the mother/child relationship. This is why fathers sometimes feel like their families have been taken away from them. It’s more than just the end of a romantic relationship. That can be very hard for them.
It is worth noting that the courts are not supposed to be biased and that recent changes to laws have focused more on equality. Some have even said that the idea is outdated, calling gender bias a myth. One reason that they give for this point of view is that mothers realistically do put in more time with the children during the marriage, whereas fathers tend to work more. They say that, while mothers do get custody more often, the courts are right to do this — not biased against those fathers.
This is certainly a controversial topic, but it underscores why it’s so important for fathers to know what rights they have. If custody is important to you, make sure that you have experienced legal assistance during your divorce.
