About a month back I requested people to suggest a topic of discussion. Non-custodial parent's custody, affectionately referred to as Father's Rights, was the biggest request I received. I have had a good percentage of clients wanting to fight for their parental rights. I remember one where the mother always had an excuse for father not to see his child. The child was barely school aged so it was not an issue of the child having extra-curricular activities or a large amount of school functions. It just was not convenient for mom. Father eventually reached out to see what his options were since he just felt defeated. He and I talked. We discussed everything leading up to this moment. We also discussed what he would love to have. His "pie in the sky" if you will. We also discussed what he would be willing to accept since the reality of co-parenting is compromise. A motion to enforce access and possession was file and we had the hearing a couple months later. When everything was said and done, we not only got make up days for the days dad missed out on with his child, we also got him expanded visitation as his standard possession going forward. Mom and Dad lived in the same city, so it was easy for Dad to pick up his child at school on Thursday and keep his child through Monday morning during his weekends.
While it may seem the custody papers are written to benefit one parent over the other. In reality it is designed to protect the rights of both parents and keep both parents active in the child's life. Fathers, if you want to review your papers and see if a modified custody schedule is right for you, please reach out. I will give you an honest, straight-forward analysis of your custody rights.