Child Custody Rights for Mothers

A divorce or a separation is a very traumatic situation for almost all the family members. The most difficult situation arises when it comes to the custody of the child. Any young child needs the love of a mother and the backing of a father to become mature adult. The institution of marriage is solely based on the psychology of growing children, who need both the mother and the father. Modern psychological experiments have further established that any growing child, must have a close relationship with the mother and father. In short, it can be stated that the presence of a mother and also a father is needed for all the children.

The child custody rights for mothers, tend to differ in all nations, states and jurisdictions. The rights also tend to differ in almost every case. The situation of the case is assessed during the divorce procedure. Many factors such as the behavior of the mother and father, the reason behind the divorce, etc. are reviewed by the legal system and then, custody is granted accordingly.

In cases of a normal divorce, when the parents separate in a peaceful manner, the rights of custody are not necessarily in favor of the mother. The custody of the child is decided according to situation, and also the child's choice or recommendations. At times, the legal system resorts to psychological analysis and interpretations, to determine who will have the custody of the child. One of the examples that I can give off-hand, is the one that is depicted in the movie Kramer vs. Kramer, where both the parents are shown to be equally loving and caring. In such situations the legal system prefers to provide joint custody to both the parents.

There can be several different aspects, to the different cases of the child custody. The following are some of the different cases and the child custody rights that are usually granted to the mothers.

Case 1
As mentioned above, in the cases where the father of the child is a completely normal person, who is a loving and caring father and is also not alcoholic or violent, both the parents hold the legal custody of the child. However, in maximum cases, the physical custody goes to the mother, which means that the child has to live with the mother. The court grants the father the permission to regularly visit the child. However, if the mother fears that the father is mistreating the child, then she has the permission to file an appeal in the court for an inquiry. Sometimes the contacts between the father and child are completely broken, but only if the child is abused. Once the child becomes an adult, he is entitled to stay with whichever parent he wants. It must be noted in this case, that the father bears the expenses of the child equally.

Case 2
With some of the modern concepts, such as live in relationships, the institution of marriage is almost absent. However the environment that is created in the house is very similar to that of a family. The one drawback is that, the relationship between the parents is not legally recognized (a marriage is legally recognized, a live in relationship is not). The laws relating to the custody of a child are somewhat similar to those in cases of a normal divorce. The courts, while granting the custody, dictate a very strict financial back up and contribution, that is to be provided by the father to the mother, for the well-being of the child.

Case 3
The situation where the father of the child has an abusive constitution, the case gets complicated. In such situations, the legal and also physical custody of the child goes to the mother. At times, the father is also not allowed to contact or visit the child. In the cases where the father is regularly involved in alcohol abuse or any other substance abuse, then the mother and child are granted special protection from the court.

For mothers, custody of the child can sometimes be of more importance than separation or divorce. In case of unmarried mothers the legal system prefers to provide the custody of the child to the mother.