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Divorces are difficult ordeals, but in most cases, they are for the best. Often, splitting two people who can’t get along is much healthier than allowing them to stay together, which could be toxic for the family as a whole.
The most precarious issue for family law attorneys is child custody. The law system is often built to favor mothers, creating an unfair bias. Divorce attorneys for men are well-versed in rights for fathers, but why should you know about fathers’ rights?
Equality and Fathers’ Rights
In the past, fathers had little to no rights when it came to divorces and custody proceedings. Due to the system, fathers could often expect to see very little of their kids with strict limitations on basic visitation rights.
Fathers’ rights have come a long way. The main goals of fathers’ rights boil down to equality. Advocates of the movement do not necessarily believe custody is right for every father but that every father should have an equal right to custody. While a father might not always seek full custody, he is still entitled to spending substantial amounts of time with his child.
In other words, fathers’ rights advocates want to ensure that fathers are not treated as occasional parents that are not expected to play significant roles in their children’s lives. Fathers’ rights want fathers to have more than just “visitations.” They want to take an equal share of the parental responsibilities.
Finances
Fathers want to do everything they can to support their kids and ensure they live positive, wonderful lives, but financial limitations can often make that difficult. What’s worse, many divorces force much of the financial burden—which includes child support and alimony payments—on the father while simultaneously limiting his time with his children.
There’s a huge difference between being a supportive parent and being a funnel of money. The fathers’ rights movement hopes to eliminate the latter sentiment while advancing the former.
In many cases, fathers are unable to provide much in the form of financial support. Numerous fathers’ rights advocates hope to redefine the concept of “financial support” to include non-monetary forms of support, such as groceries, clothing, toys, and time spent with the child.
Children and Parents
Though fathers’ rights emphasize the father, it is really all about the children and their relationships with each parent. Fathers’ rights isn’t about creating a dichotomous relationship wherein one parent is considered better or “more worthy” than the other. Instead, fathers’ rights are a way of keeping both parents in a child’s life so that both mother and father can have healthy, meaningful relationships with their kids. A divorce might split spouses, but it shouldn’t divide families.
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