When David Abuhadba and his wife went through their divorce, the courts only cared about one thing when deciding custody of the couple’s son, Lucas: the mother.
Abuhadba, like most fathers, didn’t have a chance of winning custody. In Chile, unless a father can prove that the mother is abusive or completely ill-equipped to be a mom, she will be granted full custody of the child.
Some Chilean fathers use this as an excuse to abandon their kids.
Read the rest of the article at http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/human-rights-a-law/26087-chilean-fathers-battle-for-custody-rights
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Senate Bill 115 is Necessary to Protect Children and Fathers
The Uniform Parentage Act governs the determination of parentage of children who are born of parents that are not married. The Act, in various forms, is implemented in the majority of states. One provision of the act provides that if a man provides semen to a licensed physician, for the purpose of inseminating an unmarried woman, the man is legally barred from claiming parentage of the child who results therefrom.
The original basis for the law was a means to allow both unmarried women and women who were married to men who were infertile to have children without fear that the sperm donor would eventually claim some right to the child. Years ago this was, and today in certain instances remains, a just result. But times have changed, medicine had changed and fertility treatments have become more accessible. At the same time, the fabric of family life has also changed. The law needs to accommodate that. Recently introduced in the California Legislature is Senate Bill 115, a bill necessary to clarify the state of the law when a man provides sperm to an unmarried partner, which would allow sperm donors to pursue parental rights in certain situations. The bill is intended to allow a limited class of fathers, those who have brought the children into their homes, and held the children out as their own, to obtain parentage rights to those children. The bill is necessary in order to protect those children from losing a relationship with their fathers.
Read the rest of the article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-silberberg/senate-bill-115-is-necess_b_3065191.html
Supreme Court wrestles with father's rights, child's best interests in adoption of Indian girl
The justices heard an appeal Tuesday from the South Carolina couple who wanted to adopt the girl, named Veronica. The outcome of the case was unclear after arguments that included an unusually emotional appeal from the couple's lawyer. Justice Anthony Kennedy said he wished he could call upon King Solomon to figure it out.
The case turns on the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, enacted in 1978 because Indian children were being removed from their homes and typically placed with non-Indian adoptive or foster parents. The law gives tribes and relatives a say in decisions affecting a child. State courts have been at odds on the law's application.
The Obama administration, 18 states, several Indian tribes, current and former members of Congress and children's welfare groups have lined up in support of the father. The National Council for Adoption and the American Association of Adoption Attorneys are among the groups supporting the South Carolina couple.
Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation, invoked the federal law to stop the adoption arranged by the girl's non-Indian mother when she was pregnant and the Charleston, S.C.-area couple, Matt and Melanie Capobianco. The couple was present at Veronica's birth in Oklahoma. Brown had never met his daughter and, after the mother rebuffed his marriage proposal, played no role during the pregnancy and paid no child support after Veronica was born.
Legal talk focuses on fathers' rights
The rights and responsibilities of fathers will be the topic of discussion at tonight’s “Legal Aid 101” educational session.
The talk, hosted by Legal Aid Corp. of Tippecanoe County, is free and open to the public. It will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the downtown Tippecanoe County Public Library, 627 South St.
Read the rest of the article at
http://www.jconline.com/article/20130416/NEWS/304160049/Legal-talk-focuses-fathers-rights
Supreme Court to hear child custody fight; at crux is law on tribal rights
“Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl” is not the kind of case that usually finds its way to the US Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the justices take up an appeal that could well require the wisdom of Solomon, and then some.
The emotionally charged case involves a dispute over custody of a young child known in court papers simply as “Baby Girl.” At issue is the applicability of a federal law designed to preserve the culture and heritage of native Americans and the viability of their tribes.
Caught up in the dispute are the birth mother, known as “Mother” in court papers, who put the child up for adoption, the objecting “Father,” who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, and the “Adoptive Couple,” who are not members of a native American tribe.
The case is important because it will help clarify for judges across the country how to weigh conflicting claims at the intersection of state child custody laws and a federal law known as the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Read the rest of the article at http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-hear-child-custody-fight-crux-law-180651955.html
Equal rights for child custody fathers
AFTER reading “There is never a happy divorce” (The Star, April 3), I agree with the points raised by Ng Shu Tsung.
Divorce cases are getting very common these days with parents of young children simply not bothered about the children’s welfare.
There is no give-and-take policy.
When things cannot be settled amicably between couples, the court decides on the custody of the child.
In all cases, the mothers get the opportunity to raise the children while the fathers are given only limited access to see and spend time with them.
That’s the way it always has been and things haven’t changed.
This might be due to the fact that traditionally, men work and the women stay at home to raise the children.
Although that is less so these days, there is still a bias towards women in child custody cases.
Read the rest of the article at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/4/16/focus/12976161&sec=focus
Unwed Fathers Rights and Obligations
Miami, FL (PRWEB) April 16, 2013
Recent statistics from Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that more than 40% of children today are born to unmarried couples. While this percentage is lower for ages over 30 when having children or having a college degree, there is still a vast majority of people who are choosing to have their children before they get married or decide not to get married at all. These facts lead to more social problems and in most circumstances, these children will grow up without a father, says Theodore Enfield, a family law attorney.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1189440#ixzz2T0thQsDY
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