It has long been a subject of great concern here in Illinois and across the U.S. that far more mothers than fathers appear to be awarded primary physical custody of children after divorce. Family courts have been accused of arbitrarily favoring a "traditional" physical custody model in which mom gets the kids and dads are granted "visitation." This unfortunate trend was the impetus for the fathers' rights movement.
False abuse claims in child custody cases can hurt the kids most
Divorce and relationships writer Monique Honaman of the Huffington Post recently found herself confronted with two situations that shocked her. In the course of a single week, she learned of two men -- demonstrably good, stable, non-abusive parents, she maintains -- who are being dragged through the courts because of false accusations of child abuse. In each case, she says, the real issue is that their exes don't want to have to have to deal with them and are therefore trying to wrest away their child custody and visitation rights.
Father owes $119,000 in back child support
A mother that had grown up in Illinois and who had crisscrossed the country with her former husband and four children has been attempting to collect $119,000 in unpaid child support. The child support obligations apparently go back as much as 12 years.
High court to consider Baby Veronica's father's rights under ICWA
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an important child custody case involving, on the one hand, the adoptive parents of a 3-1/2-year-old girl whom they have raised since birth and, on the other hand, a father who never consented to her adoption. The case, known legally as "Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl," is known in the press as the Baby Veronica case.
