The Legal Rights of Mothers and Fathers During a Custody Proceeding
Custody battles may be considered one of the most difficult and complicated parts of divorce hearings. However, it may be relieving to know that this will only be applicable to the minor children of the couple. There are so many assumptions and misconceptions surrounding children custody proceedings. Among which is that custody of children is always awarded to the mother. In such a situation, a father might ask if there is a different law applicable and favoring of fathers.
For this article, we’re going to examine important information regarding the litigation to settle the custody of children.
Why are custody hearings important?
Legally defined, custody refers to the guardianship or care of a person. In this case, the children.
Custody hearings are important because it is the welfare of the children that is at stake. Furthermore, caring for children requires a lot of attention and responsibility. The parent who should receive the custody is deemed to be as mentally-sound and would be capable of providing for the needs of the children ie. education, shelter, guidance, etc.
In order for the court to determine the fitness of the parent to whom the custody will be awarded, it will be treated as a normal legal court proceeding.
What happens in a custody proceeding
A normal court proceeding is to be expected during a children custody hearing. As such, you can be certain and can expect to be asked several questions that will determine your fitness both as a parent, and as the primary and legal custodian of your children.
You can expect that the questions that will be asked by a judge may be financial in nature among others, because it can serve as an indicator of the parent’s capability of being a provider. Here are several other questions that can be expected during the examination:
- Working or day-to-day schedule
- History of any drug or alcohol dependence or use
- History of domestic abuse
- Location of the home or any plans of relocating the children
- Financial status
- Communication of the parents with the children where the judge will ask how often and the level of quality of this communication
- Whether there is a formal or informal arrangement of the custody already discussed
- Personal life and other significant information that will contribute to your fitness as the legal custodian of the children
On top of these questions, you can expect that a judge will also ask supporting details, such as evidence to help support your claim for custody. These evidence may come from testimonies from the people closest to your family, official bank statements, and so forth.
When it comes to this, your divorce attorney Fort Worth will be able to help you collate and procure the necessary supporting documents and accounts that will help support your claim.
Do mothers get awarded more of their children’s custody?
At the earlier part of this article we mentioned that it always seems like mothers often get awarded the custody of the children.
A brief examination into a census from 2017 reveals that about 80% of the mothers are granted the custody of the children. However, over the past 24 years, there is an increase in the trend that fathers are being awarded custody more from only being 16% in 1993 to 20% in 2018.
A factor that can be considered why mothers seem to receive more of the custody of the children is the work schedule or the availability of the parent to care for the child. In other words, a judge considers looking at the work obligations of both parents.
Despite this trend of the larger population of mothers being awarded custody, the laws between fathers and mothers ARE NOT DIFFERENT. The law doesn’t favor either of the parents during a custody battle. That’s why a hearing is conducted to study the fitness of the parents to care for the children.
Some judges also base the awarding of custody on the quality of the relationship between the children and the parent. In some cases, a judge will respect the preference of the child during the hearing.
Is the decision during a custody proceeding already final?
A custody decision is only final when the custody decree is finally signed by the ruling judge. While this can be considered as final, the other parent may still appeal this decision.
In Texas, parents who would like to appeal this decision will only have about 30 days to modify the final decision. Sadly, the family court will be difficult to persuade to change the granted custody once there is a final decision.
A court may be able to change the final custody decision unless the reasons behind appealing the custody grant is absolutely necessary.
In some cases, parents wouldn’t want to appeal the actual custody grant but may just want to modify the child support. In such a case, the parent can file for modifications to the final decisions. However, unlike the appeal, one can only apply for the modification of the custody after 3 years in the Texas court.
Summary
Fort Worth Child custody hearings can be complicated and must be treated with the utmost delicacy. After all, it is the minor children who are involved in this legal battle between parents.
A custody hearing is treated as a normal legal case would. Whereby, a judge will study the case and objectively consider the multiple factors that will have a beneficial effect on the child or children’s development and welfare.
Based on census, it is revealed that about 80% of the parents awarded the custody of children are the mothers. Due to this there is a lot of misconception that there is a special “law” for mothers that essentially makes this decision happen.
But it isn’t the case. As with the fairness of law, there is no special “law” or rule that states that the mother will always be awarded with the custody of the children.
Neither is there a law that supports fathers to essentially just provide financial support for the children.
It is worth emphasizing that all judges across Texas family courts will review the case and treat each case differently depending on the fitness of either parent based on the facts presented.
The job of the parents is to provide substantial information and present their legal position as strong as possible. Ultimately, you can do so by having an objective and knowledgeable family attorney fort worth tx to represent you.
Call a Family Law expert in Fort Worth, Texas today!
The first step that you can take in order to have a successful custody hearing is to solicit the assistance of a professional family law attorney.
The office of Turner-Monahan is conveniently situated in Fort Worth and Cleburne, Texas. Whether it’s a question regarding how much child support you should provide, your visitation rights, or even paternity rights, our experts in family law will be glad to fight for your case.
Call us today for a free discussion and consultation.
