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Child Custody
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than a quarter of American children - nearly 17 million - do not live with their father. The following resources may provide helpful information concerning your child custody issues and help to reduce the number of children living without their dads.
Custody Links
Custody 911
This site had been ranked number one for custody research and provides links to over 100 helpful websites regarding various aspects of child custody.
Custody Links Provided by Fathermag.Com
U.S. Child Custody Law
An overview of child custody law.
Winning Child Custody
This organization is dedicated to providing you with the information you need to win or defend the custody of your child.
Sample of State Statutes
What is a Typical Child Custody Statute?
Connecticut
Maine
Rhode Island
Iowa
Kansas (To view the Kansas statute, once on the site, please type 60-1610 for the statute number.)
Colorado
New York
South Carolina
Facts
- The Department of Health and Human Services reported in 1999 the following facts:
- Those girls without a father in their life are two and a half times as likely to get pregnant and 53 percent more likely to commit suicide.
- Boys without a father in their life are 63 percent more likely to run away and 37 percent more likely to abuse drugs.
- Both girls and boys are twice as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to end up in jail and nearly four times as likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems.
Research
Some of the following research reports and articles are accessible via the Internet. Others are not accessible on the web as they require a password, such as those law review articles found on Lexis Nexis and Westlaw. Articles may be found in your local library or law library.
Braver, Sanford L. and Fabricius, William V. Separated and Unmarried Fathers and the Courts: Non-Child Support Expenditures on Children by Nonresidential Divorced Fathers: Results of a Study. 41 Fam. Ct. Rev. 321
One study documents the expenses if non-custodial fathers as substantially greater than expected. Children with non-custodial fathers were asked whether they had their own bedroom at their dad's home, whether they had toys and games, and whether they had clothes and shoes at dad's home as well.
Brown, Patricia R. and Melli, Marygold S. The Economics of Shared Custody: Developing an Equitable Formula for Dual Residence. 31 Hous. L. Rev. 543, 544
Data and anaylsis on shared custody are discussed.
Houston Law Review
Taylor, Laura Beresh. Protecting Children's Need for Stability in Custody Modification Disputes between Biological Parents and Third Parties. 32 Akron L. Rev. 371
Discusses a decision by the Alaska Supreme Court and its efforts to balance a child's need for stability with the standard of parental preference.
Akron Law Review
Kelly, Joan B. Psychological and Legal Interventions for Parents and Children in Custody and Access Disputes: Current Research and Practice. 10 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. 129
A description of methods developed to reduce the negative effects of separation and divorce on families and empirical research investigating the impact of these interventions are presented.
Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law
Matthews, Mark D. Curing the "Every-Other-Weekend Syndrome": Why Visitation Should Be Considered Separate and Apart from Custody. 5 Wm. & Mary J. of Women & L. 411, 418
Discusses the idea that a strong bond with the non-custodial parent can help mitigate the damaging stress of divorce on children.
Case Law
Massachusetts Case Law
Yannas v. Yannas,481 N.E. 2d 1153(Mass. 1985) (MS Word format)
Court held that the law of the Commonwealth does not presumptively favor joint physical custody in all situations. It went on to say that "There is also no reason to conclude, as the husband suggests, that joint physical custody is required by constitutional principles of right-to-privacy or due process of law or that a "clear and convincing" standard of proof should be imposed on anyone seeking custody other than joint physical custody." Finally, and most critical, the court held as follows:
The interest of the custodial parent in moving must also be assessed. The relative advantage to the custodial parent from the move, the soundeness of the reason for moving, and the presence or absence of a motive to deprive the noncustodial parent of reasonable visitaton are all likely to be relevant considerations.That the move is in the best interests of the custodial parent does not mean that it is automatically in the best interests of the noncustodial parent must be considered. If that parent is unfit or has not exercised his or her rights of visitation, the judge's problem is less difficult than in the case of a diligent noncustodial parent. The reasonableness of alternative visitation arrangements should be assessed. The fact that visitation by the noncustodial parent will be changed to his or her disadvantage cannnot be controlling.
In this process, the first consideration is whether there is a good reason for the move, a "real advantage." If the custodial parent establishes a good, sincere reason for wanting to remove to another jurisdiction, none of the relevant factors becomes controlling in deciding the best interests of the child, but rather they must be considered collectively. Every person, parent and child, has an intereest to be considered. The judicial safeguard of those interests lies in careful and clear fact-finding and not in imposing heightened burdens of proof or in inequitabley identifying constitiutional rights in favour of one person against another.
Custody of Zia, 50 Mass. App. Ct. 237 (Mass. 2000) (MS Word format)
Case in which the court held that Massachusetts law did not create a presumption that custody should have been awarded to the mother. Custody was awarded to the father after the mother was found to be unfit.
Fuller v. Fuller, 2 Mass. App. Ct. 372 (Mass. 1974) (MS Word format)
The Court of Appeals of Massachusetts determined that a custody transfer in the best interests of the child is not allowed unless a significant change in circumstances of sufficient magnitude exists.
Murphy v. Murphy, 404 N.E. 2d 69 (Mass. 1980) (MS Word format)
It was determined that the trial court abused its discretion by entering an order giving the wife custody of the child because an Arizona court had previously ordered that husband have temporary custody of the child.
Petition of Department of Social Services to Dispense with Consent to Adoption, 452 N.E. 2d 497 (Mass. 1983) (MS Word format)
The case establishes that parents have a fundamental right to the custody of their children yet the courts must award such custody on the basis of the child's welfare.
Youmans v. Ramos, 711 N.E. 2d 165 (MS Word format) (MS Word format)
Georgia man who was awarded custody of his daughter was ordered by the court to encourage and pay for visitation with girl's aunt, who had become a de facto parent. Father argued that the court order violated his constitutional rights. The court held that the visitation between the aunt and the child was in the child's best interests."
Cases from other Jurisdictions
Boswell v. Boswell, 721 A.2d 662 (Md. 1998) (word format)
Court's prohibition of visitation in presence of spouse's non-marital partner challenged based on the fact that relationship was between same-sex individuals. The Maryland Court of Appeals determined that, in applying the 'best interests' standard, that there was no nexus between the homosexual couple and real or imminent harm to the welfare of the child.
Proposed Legislation
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