A child custody guide for the single dad

When partners get separated from each other, the most common question that lurks in their mind is – who gets the custody of the child? Things become a lot more complicated when single dads decide to claim the custody of their children.

Child custody is a term used to describe the legal and general relationship between a child and a parent. This means the parent winning the child’s custody would be legally responsible for making decisions on behalf of the child. Child custody is of many types, so you need to understand each of them to decide which arrangement would be the best fit for the child. For a better understanding, you can get in touch with Prime Family Lawyers, but for the basics, child custody is basically of four types:

1. Sole Custody: One parent gets the complete custody of the child
2. Physical Custody: The children live with the parent winning the physical custody. This may be shared among both the parents.
3. Legal Custody: The parent winning the legal custody has the legal right to making decisions about the child’s upbringing
4. Joint Custody: The parents get joint legal custody or joint physical custody. Both parents have joint rights towards the child.

Although the court would prefer both parents taking care of the child, there are situations when the court grants full custody to one parent and fathers have equal rights towards their children. But a father needs to prove that he is better than the mother when it comes to taking care of the child.

When deciding whether the father should be granted the child’s custody, the court would consider the following factors:

• Paternity: A father willing to get the full custody of the child must acknowledge paternity of the child by signing the child’s birth certificate or during a paternity proceeding in court.
• Relationship between the father and child: No stone will be left unturned when inquiring about the child’s relationship with his/her father. So you must be prepared to answer all the questions asked during the court proceedings.
• Relationship between the mother and child: If the mother is the primary caretaker of the child and the arrangement works well, the court might not be willing to change it. In order to change the arrangement, the father must prove that the mother is unable to take care of the child. For instance, she might have mental problems or she may be abusive of the child or may not be financially stable.

In order to win full custody of the child, a single dad must get help from an experienced lawyer. This is because it is a lot more difficult for a father to get the custody of a child than a mother. Moreover, in order to prove he is better than the mother, the father needs to provide a lot of evidence. A lawyer would help you collect the evidence and present it in the court. Therefore, if you are fighting for your child’s custody know the laws and hire a good lawyer.

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