by hussainlaw | Mar 7, 2022 | Uncategorised
The upbringing and care of a child belong equally to both parents when two people have a child together. Whether or not a couple is married, they have an equal right to decide what happens to their child and how they raise it. So what about the parenting rights of fathers?
If you are going through a separation or divorce, it’s important that your children feel safe, loved, and supported. A common misconception is that fathers do not have equal rights to custody. Is there a bias in custody laws that favor mothers? Is custody also available to single fathers? Can the father claim spousal support in addition to the mother? We’ll examine each question separately.
Parenting Rights Of Fathers: Child Custody Rights
Having custody means being able to make important decisions about how your child will be raised. As part of the child’s custody, parents have the right to make decisions regarding the child’s religion, education, and medical care. Child custody includes several types:
1) Sole Custody: A parent with sole custody of a child has the authority and responsibility of unilaterally making major decisions regarding the health and welfare of that child.
2) Joint Custody: The term joint custody in Ontario refers to when both parents share the rights and responsibilities of custody despite living apart. The custody arrangement, in this case, provides both parents equally important decision-making power over their children.
3) Shared Custody: It refers to the time a child spends with each parent when determining each parent’s parenting obligation.
4) Split Custody: This occurs when both parents have children, and each parent primarily takes care of one or more of the children.
Is Custody Also Available To Single Fathers?
It is an unfounded myth that a single father has no right to custody.
There is no distinction under the law between married and unmarried fathers. According to The Children’s Law Reform Act, the best interest of the child is to be considered in deciding whether an application for custody is meritorious. Single fathers are not excluded from the decision-making process. Based on the father’s marital status, the court will consider the factors listed above and determine how they will address the parenting rights of fathers.
Do Unmarried Fathers Have the Same Rights as Married Fathers?
Most places practice the tradition of always having the mother as the first guardian of the child. Regardless of whether a mother is married or unmarried, this remains the case.
Nevertheless, fathers may not always enjoy the same privileges as mothers. The rights of an unmarried father are different from those of the parenting rights of fathers. A shared mother will gain custody in the event of a separation. Before he can claim custody of his child, a father who is unmarried must prove his paternity. A father who cannot prove paternity has no claim to say anything about his child’s life. This includes paying child support as well. In other words, unmarried fathers are not legally obligated to pay support during separation like married fathers.
Important Legal Terms about Parenting Rights Of Fathers
1) Guardianship: It is a court-ordered arrangement when a court appoints someone to care for a minor child and decides about the child’s education, support, and maintenance.
2) Father’s Rights and Access: A child and parent can have access to spend time together if they choose to do so. In spite of the fact that they may not be able to make decisions, parents with access have a right to information about their child’s education, health, and well-being.
3) Child’s Best Interest: When it comes to child custody decisions, looking out for the child’s “best interests” means ensuring that all discussions and decisions pertaining to custody and visitation favor the child’s wellbeing, security, mental health, and emotional development into adulthood.
Protect Parenting Rights Of Fathers with Hussain Law
Make sure you are in control of your fate, not a judge. Divorce can be emotionally and financially draining and extremely unpredictable. Protect parenting rights of fathers with the right lawyer who can provide you with family law solutions tailored to you.
At Hussain Law, we focus on helping our clients navigate the emotional and financial challenges of separation and divorce. Our office remains fully operational, and we have implemented various new procedures that allow us to continue to advise clients seamlessly during this time.
If you have a family law issue that you need assistance with, please contact Ayesha Hussain (Family Lawyer Toronto) at 647-428-3919.
by Janita Pannu | Oct 12, 2021 | Uncategorised
There are many challenges and difficulties during a divorce. When someone separates from a relationship or gets divorced, it can be hard to recover after divorce. There could be rejection, anger, hurt, or hopelessness. It is possible, however, to manage these difficult feelings.
Divorce brings with it many emotional, physical, and financial complications. Separated parents have a difficult time co-parenting. As well as offering them the love, understanding, and attention they need to deal with their own pain. The feeling of not knowing what to do can be frightening, overpowering, and seemingly endless.
It may take time for you to heal, and you might experience discomfort for a while. Losses come in multiple stages and sometimes require adjustment. Embrace the journey and stay active. Be mindful of how you feel and recognize which stage you are going through.
Here are 5 Ways to Recover After Divorce:
1) Keep in touch with those you care about.
Connect with people you enjoy and plan activities you can do together. Our need for compassion can cause feelings of loneliness, which in turn increases our chances of becoming involved in unhealthy relationships. Spend as much time as possible getting in touch with supportive friends and family members.
Having friends who listen intently and provide you with emotional support can make all the difference. Quality rather than quantity determines the nature of a helpful social circle.
2) Avoid dwelling on the past.
The past tends to impede the process of healing after a divorce Many blame their ex-partner for everything that went wrong.
Reminiscing about the past keeps you in the past. Observing your rearview mirror won’t help you drive forward, and focusing on the past won’t help you live a fulfilling life. What has already happened can’t be changed. It is best to utilize what has already happened to make the most of the future.
3) Embrace the lessons you learned from it
No matter how successful your marriage might be, you’re bound to have made mistakes and wish you had done things differently.
It’s a great time to learn from those experiences, too. Regret is a natural result of those thoughts.
Put yourself back in the position you were in before the relationship. How did you envision the future? Have you ever wanted to go somewhere or try something new?
Now you have an excellent opportunity to take a writing workshop, an art class, or take part in other hobbies that interest you.
4) Spend some time in nature
Many studies have shown that being immersed in nature has extreme health benefits.
It is possible to feel anxious, sad, or helpless when you are in an unpleasant environment. You experience an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension, as well as weakened immunity. Therefore, a positive environments help reverse those effects.
In both body and mind, nature has been proven to have incredible healing benefits. Among other things, green spaces enable people to relax, calm down, and lower their heart rates. Furthermore, the difference between walking on a busy city street and walking in a park can probably be felt by comparing your experience of walking on both.
Being in nature can be profoundly healing after a separation or divorce because it reconnects one with oneself and the greater universe naturally. The presence of nature can help ease the feelings of abandonment that can come with separation or divorce.
5) Make the most of what you have to offer
When you go through a divorce, your confidence is undermined.
However, you still possess incredible qualities that you can and should be extremely proud of. Build your self-confidence by discovering the things you really enjoy about yourself, and reminding yourself of those things every day.
Embrace your newfound singledom by finding ways to enjoy it. It can be helpful to spend some time by yourself to think, reflect, and reorganize your priorities.
Taking a second look at your options might make sense at this point. Moreover, think of it as an opportunity to start over from scratch and find out all the opportunities that await you.
Final Thoughts
Most importantly, you have to give yourself time to heal and recover after divorce. It takes time to lessen the sting, and with time, the flood of memories and regrets will happen less and less often.
At Hussain Law, we focus on helping our clients navigate the emotional and financial challenges of separation and divorce. Our office remains fully operational, and we have implemented various new procedures that allow us to continue to advise clients seamlessly during this time. If you have a family law issue that you need assistance with, please contact Ayesha Hussain at 647-428-3919.
by hussainlaw | Apr 19, 2020 | Uncategorised
The COVID-19 pandemic is seemly turning everyone’s life upside down. Some people are losing their jobs, some are working fewer hours and non-essential are being made to close. The one thing that is not changing is the need for child support payments. While the government has made announcements about evictions and a deferral of taxes, nothing so far has been said about child support.
If there is a court order to make child support payments, unless and until you have changes made to the, you must follow the terms of your order. COVID-19 does not automatically excuse or justify a deferral or refusal to pay child support.
So what should a parent do if they are suffering financially as a result of COVID-19 and has an ongoing child support obligation? Here are some tips.
Contact the recipient and give them a heads-up immediately! In the current times, communication is key. Even if you do not communicate with the opposing party on a regular basis, let them know you are facing a difficult time and cannot full payment. By not saying anything you could be surprising the recipient which can cause far more harm and distress. Less notice means less time to organize a safety net and make other arrangements. Having the difficult conversation early could help resolve potential issues later on.
If you cannot make your support payments, there is a difference between making no payment versus paying a portion of what is due. Try to make some payments towards child support. Making a portion of the payment shows you are being reasonable and understand your obligation. Work out a payment schedule with the recipient first and then advise the Family Responsibility Office that you are unable to pay the full amount on a temporary basis.
Document your communication with the recipient to show your effort. If you do reach a temporary arrangement, make sure you confirm it in writing.
Keep a careful track of your budget during COVID-19 showing your income, expenses, and who you have to pay. If you have savings, you should attempt to make the full child support payment. Remember children you support are dependent on your money, so their needs will be deemed high-priority.
Keep the lines of communication open. The situation we are in is changing rapidly. Don’t send one text and sit back. If you are able to make a payment next month, let the recipient know as soon as possible.
My focus on family law helps my clients navigate the emotional and financial challenges a family law matter can present. Hussain Law remains fully operational and has various new technologies that allow me to continue to advise clients seamlessly during this time. If you have a family law issue that you need assistance with, please contact Ayesha Hussain at 647-428-3919 .
Stay well!
by hussainlaw | Feb 28, 2018 | Ayesha Hussain
In extreme high conflict custody cases, a dynamic develops whereby one of the parents sets out to sever the children’s ties to the other parent. This is referred to as “parental alienation”. Five types of parental behaviour are hallmarks of parental alienation syndrome:
- Rejecting: The favoured parent rejects the child’s need for a relationship with both parents. The child fears abandonment and rejection by the favoured parent if he or she expresses positive feelings about the rejected parent;
- Terrorizing: The favoured parent bullies the child into being terrified of the rejected parent, and punishes the child if he or she expresses positive feelings about the rejected parent;
- Ignoring: The favoured parent withholds love and attention if the child expresses positive feelings about the rejected parent;
- Isolating: The favoured parent prevents the child from participating in normal social activities with the rejected parent and that parent’s friends and family;
- Corrupting: The favoured parent encourages the child to lie and be aggressive toward the rejected parent. In very serious cases, the favoured parent recruits the child to assist in tricks and manipulative behaviour intended to harm the rejected parent.
The Children’s Law Reform Act reinforces the idea that maximum contact with both parents is generally in the best interests of children, and that parents have an obligation not only to allow access, but to facilitate that access. If you fear that you are a victim of parental alienation contact me today at 647-428-3919 to learn your options.
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