Divorce Advice for Men | Fathers Rights Divorce | Child Custody

By Michael Doherty

Chairman, Children’s Rights Council of Illinois

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Child abuse, both physical and sexual, has declined significantly over the past 15 years thanks to a concerted effort by advocacy organizations, government agencies, and compassionate judges.

Another form of child abuse is still common, though. It involves the minimization of a child’s attachment to a parent through sometimes subtle manipulation.

This insidious form of child abuse, called Parental Alienation, can have serious long-term mental health impacts ranging from chronic insecurity to depression and tragically, even suicide.

Molly Olson is the volunteer founder of the Center for Parental Responsibility and is currently tirelessly working toward the passage of a Joint Physical Custody bill in Minnesota.

This bill would presume equally shared parenting after divorce and would be an obvious help to fathers who are too often marginalized and deemed the non-custodial parent.

Olson talked with DadsDivorce.com editor Matt Allen about how a married woman with no kids got involved in advocating for divorced dads in family law reform.

You can learn more about Olson and her organization by visiting the Center for Parental Responsibility website.

Click the link for the full audio version of the podcast on shared parenting.

By Matt Allen

Editor, DadsDivorce.com and MensRights.com

His erratic and outlandish behavior has garnered Charlie Sheen a massive amount of attention the past week, but it also at least temporarily cost him custody of his children.

Police removed Sheen’s twin boys from his home per a court order issued after his estranged wife said she feared for her life, according to CBS News. Brooke Mueller filed legal papers saying Sheen threatened her with physical violence and stated, "I am in great fear for the children's safety while in his care."

CBS News reports the temporary restraining order prevents Sheen from getting within 100-yards of his twin children for roughly three weeks. (Note: image taken from Sheen's Twitter page.)

Though not as publicized, fathers find themselves frequently defending themselves from accusations of violence as emergency orders are more often used now for strategic reasons in divorce cases. 

By Andrea Johnson

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

A very common question in custody cases is, when can my child decide which parent he/she wants to live with? 

According to some state's divorce laws, your child will never have the exclusive ability to make that determination until he/she has reached the age of majority or emancipates. 

In common practice, however, the courts will allow children who have reached typically the age of 14 to select the parent with whom they wish to reside. 

Question:

My wife and I  are separated and settled our child support and custody matters at a hearing. Now that this agreement has been reached I would like to file for divorce. 

But will our support and custody arrangement carry over to the final divorce decree or was all of this in vain?

Also, when I tried to file the divorce pro se it says I do not qualify because I have a pending and/or resolved case in the family court, I assume referring to our support and custody case. Can someone explain this to me?