Divorces are painful enough; add in legal and emotional custody battles, and you can easily be overwhelmed. Whom do you choose to represent you? Who is looking out for your interests? The process favors the mother by a thousand paper cuts.
Finding a reputable father’s rights attorney is the only way to protect your interests in a child custody matter. How do you find the one who will give you the necessary legal guidance in your Family Court Case or Post-Decree Modification Case? Read to learn how to find a father’s rights attorney in Los Angeles.
Why Do You Need a Father’s Rights Attorney?
A good father’s rights attorney will help you fight for your rights as a father and ensure that your children get the best possible care. A father’s rights attorney can also help you obtain visitation rights if your ex-spouse refuses to let you see your children or takes them out of state without permission.
Find an experienced attorney on family law cases involving child custody disputes, paternity issues, and visitation rights so they can guide you through the complex process and keep your best interests.
Are There Father’s Rights?
Fathers’ rights are the legal mechanisms that a father or his legal representative can use to protect his rights as a parent and to ensure that he can continue to play an active role in his child’s life. Fathers’ rights include the right to:
- Impart your own set of morals and principles upon your children
- Choose the child’s place of residence
- Access information about their children
- Visit his children
- Travel with their children
- Make decisions about the child’s education, religion, and medical care
- Block the adoption of his children by another person
However, some exceptions may allow one parent to deny another parent visitation or custody of their children. If you get denied visitation or custody of your children, you must speak with a skilled attorney to help protect your rights as a father.
How to Get Full Custody
If you are seeking a full custody order, there are several steps you must take:
File the Case
You can do this by filling out the required forms and filing them with the clerk’s office at the courthouse in your county where your children live or where one parent lives or works regularly. You should also attach copies of relevant documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, e.t.c.
Serve Another Party with Notice of Proceeding
After filing your petition, you must serve another party with notice of the proceeding so they can respond to your request for full legal and physical custody of your children.
Take Parenting Class
Avoid taking it personally if the court orders you to attend a parenting education course. You are not necessarily a bad parent because of this. In many jurisdictions, parenting courses are a requirement by law, and you can learn remotely.
You must enroll in a court-approved parenting class within 45 days of being served with the Respondent’s papers.
File Consent Decree
If your partner consents to the court’s decision, they can sign a consent decree stating they agree. This document is filed with the court and becomes part of the official record.
You have to wait until the 60-day “cooling off” period. It could take a few days to a few weeks for a judge to sign the order, but you shouldn’t have to wait more than three months from the time you first file for the order to receive it.
File a Response
Your spouse will have 20 days from the service date to file a response with the court if they want to contest your petition for full custody. If your spouse does not respond, the court may enter an order granting you full custody of your children.
File Default Judgment
If your spouse doesn’t file a response within 20 days, you can ask the judge to enter an order granting you full custody by default. It means that no hearing would be necessary and that the judge would look at the evidence presented in your petition and grant it based on what they consider best for your children.
Go to Court
The case is sent to the assigned judge’s division for the assistant to schedule a resolution conference if the other side files a written response. In the first hearing, the judge will want to know if there are agreements between the parties. They may refer the case to Conciliation Court for any unresolved issues. The court will schedule a trial if the parties cannot reach an amicable resolution.
Whether you exercise your rights to seek sole custody of your children, any fathers’ rights cases have a few common issues: custody and visitation, parent-time interference and denial, paternity issues, modification and enforcement of child support/alimony orders, termination of parental rights (TPR), adoptions without consent, failure to pay child support, domestic violence or other gender issues in family court proceedings. Hiring a family law attorney who understands the father’s rights is essential during a divorce.