When a parent brings a child into this world, the last thing they expect is to have to deal with a custody case. Unfortunately, when a divorce is required or a marriage ends, the decision of which parent will be the primary parent may not be based on tradition, religion, biology or any other factor. Montana’s legal system for formally re-assigning parent rights determines this.
The birth certificate is used to identify the parents of a newborn child. This document is recognized by the government as the legal birth parent. If a child is adoptive, the parents will be confirmed by the court during the adoption process. Regardless of the outcome, parents automatically assign parental rights to the child in question. These rights do not disappear until the court rules otherwise. The court will change the custody of children when a divorce or separation is being processed.
What is Child Custody?
In order to protect fathers’ rights in Montana, judges must use the “best interest of the child” standard. This is to ensure that the child has the best possible living conditions so it can thrive and prosper while maintaining good mental health. Unfortunately, in practice,
Split Custody
This is a rarer form of custody because if there are any siblings involved, each parent would have physical and/or legal custody of one child. It can cause a lot of problems for the parents as well as the children because they are separated and cannot live together.
Physical Custody
Many parents believe that physical control and contact with a child constitutes custody. However, this is not always true. Technically, physical custody is immediate control over the child. However, it can be either legal or illegal depending on whether parental rights are in place. By default, the parents have physical custody of their child when they are born. This continues until it is changed. The state documents the adoption of parents, and their physical custody over a child. Both can be altered by the state.
Paternity is one of the strongest Biological Rights
In Montana, if the parents have not been legally married before, it is important to establish paternity of a child for a dad. The father’s rights may be affected if the child was not born to him. If a married couple has a child together, the child’s father is presumed to be her husband, unless the court declares otherwise. As a result, it is easier to establish a child’s father.
Three ways a father can ensure that his paternity has been established are:
- Signing an affidavit and publicly accepting the child as their own.
- When a father signs a paternity acknowledgement and both mother and child are in hospital, the father has the right to have his last name entered on the birth record. The child’s legal identity is now the last name of its father. On the same form, the father accepts his child’s paternity as well as the parenthood of the child.
- A father can also establish paternity through a court case to ask that the Montana district court recognize him as a parent. This is not a guaranteed outcome.
The Montana court will also consider what is best for the child’s development when deciding on the custody and visitation of each parent. If sole custody is determined to be the best option, then either one parent will have to pay child maintenance and have visitation rights granted or they may not have any visitation and still have financial obligations.
Visitation Rights
The court may have already defined the rights of the father to visitation, or the child can refuse to allow the parent to see them. In some cases, the court can refuse to allow a child visitation or parenting time if it believes that the reason for the refusal is valid. A father’s right to assert his rights may be limited by issues such as drug abuse, hygiene in the home, or even mundane issues like availability of visitation times. Courts will also evaluate the child’s capacity to understand their situation.
The fathers’ rights are complex, confusing, and can be messed up by mistakes. They can also be frustrating. The court may not agree with what a parent believes or knows. Each turn is a challenge to a father who must make their best arguments to keep his rights or to gain new ones. It can be exhausting. For parents and fathers, who dedicate themselves regardless, the child is still most important.
The article Protecting your Rights as a Dad in Child Custody Cases In Girardeau, MO first appeared on Attorney at Law Magazine.