Question: I have raised my stepdaughter since she was 5 years old. I have supported her financially for the last 10 years as her biological father has been out of the picture her entire life. Unfortunately, my wife has started drinking heavily and I don’t think our marriage is salvageable. …
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Christopher Emanuel faced every unmarried father’s worst fear when he nearly lost his daughter to the adoption system despite his wishes. Fortunately, Emanuel was able to regain custody because he registered with South Carolina’s putative-father registry. Thirty-three states have a putative-father registry, which enables a man to declare himself as …
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The shared-parenting movement is continuing to make enormous strides in 2015. In May, Utah passed House Bill 35, which increased the noncustodial parents’ minimum visitation days from 110 to 145. Now, Massachusetts appears to be on the verge of passing a pair of shared-parenting bills that would favor joint custody …
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Josh Levs is an esteemed broadcast journalist for CNN who reports and writes columns on modern parenthood. In 2013, Levs suddenly found himself in the news after his wife gave birth to their daughter. His employer, Time Warner, had the unusual policy of granting 10 weeks of paid leave to …
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Recently, the Atlantic published a captivating story written by Syracuse University law professor Kevin Noble Maillard about the child custody case of Christopher Emanuel. The story exposes how the adoption system can potentially rob a caring and loving father of all his parental rights before he even knows what hit …
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Question: What are my rights as an unmarried father?
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Question: Can my 12-year-old son refuse visitation?
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Men often face an uphill battle in family courts because of antiquated gender stereotypes, but that hill is even steeper for unwed fathers seeking custody of their children. Over the last 50 years, the number of children born to unmarried parents has exploded. Since 1960, the share of births to …
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Across the country, there is a movement to enact shared parenting laws that would help level the custody playing field for divorced parents. The shared parenting movement achieved a significant breakthrough last month when House Bill 35 went into effect. The bill combats the outdated family court tradition of awarding …
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There has been a strong push in many states during the first half of 2015 to implement more balanced child custody laws that would lead to more equal parenting time after divorce. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted this movement and noted that nearly 20 states are considering measures that would …
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