The Rights of Fathers
We’ve all hear the term “weekend dad”, and for a long time in Minnesota and throughout the United States, it was a generally accepted fact that, in a divorce, the mother was going to have custody of the children and the father was going to see them on the weekend while paying child support. Luckily, that generally accepted fact is slowly changing, though society and the court system have by no means reached the point where fathers walk into court on an equal playing field.
Father’s Custody
Dads are just as important to their children as moms and deserve to be a parent just as much as mothers do. No parent should be precluded from being an equal partner in raising their children because of their gender. Yet, in Minnesota, despite a recent change in the law which now says that there is no “no presumption against joint physical custody”, there is also no presumption in favor of joint physical custody – meaning there is no presumption that parents should be treated equally by the courts and both be recognized for the important roles they play in the lives of their children.
Certain counties in MN are known for their generally poor treatment of fathers and for their refusal to recognize that fathers can be just as good of a parent as mothers, and sometimes better. It is critical that fathers hire an attorney who believes in the importance of fathers, and who will demand fair treatment of fathers in the court system.