When you have a child with someone in Michigan and your relationship ends, you need to figure out who maintains what responsibilities when it comes to your shared child moving forward. If both you and your child’s other parent wish to have an active role in the child’s life, you may need Michigan’s family court system to come up with a custody arrangement for your family.

Per the Michigan Legislature, family courts in the state refer to a specific set of factors when making decisions about child custody. You may wonder if your child’s own preferences make the cut. Ultimately, whether your child’s opinions about where to live carry much weight is going to depend on several variables.

If you are working through the process of getting a divorce and you have kids, it is vital to think about custody and support. Whether you seek full custody or intend to share custody with your ex, child custody arrangements could have a significant impact on your child’s life and your relationship with them. Moreover, a child support order could affect your finances and various aspects of your life. It is vital to prepare for these family law issues carefully.

Reviewing statistics on custody and child support helps provide parents with a better understanding of these topics. Moreover, you should realize that you are not alone and that many families find themselves in this position.

Because it has only been a few years since same-sex marriages became legal throughout the United States, those who are ending long-term relationships and who have children face issues that heterosexual couples do not.

A man can establish paternity regardless of marriage or be the presumed father if he is married when the child is born. A nonbiological mother does not have these options.

If parents are not married in Michigan, the mother automatically has custody of her child. The father may have to fight to remain a part of their child’s life, and proving paternity is necessary.

According to Psychology Today, children benefit in several ways from the presence of a father or father figure in their lives, whether he lives with them or not.

Recently, you learned the court awarded you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse joint custody of your shared child. How do you make this arrangement work to everyone’s benefit? 

Parents magazine offers rules for making the most of joint child custody. Get insight on improving your child’s life and your relationship. 

Now more than ever, fathers’ rights are a crucial aspect of marital relations and family dynamics. Society continues to change and progress. Through that, more people acknowledge the importance of having two active parents in a relationship.

Unfortunately, courts often still favor the mother over the father. But fathers’ rights are undeniably important, and a father’s place in a family is as crucial as a mother’s.

Bias in the courts

The Fathers’ Rights Movement discusses how crucial fathers’ rights are in current day society. It is also important to look at the type of harassment and discrimination that fathers face. Until the 1970s, custody battles rarely ever happened. From that point on, society established that both parents could hold financial responsibility. Fathers were also established as real parents during the emergence of custody battles.

But to this day, a bias for mothers and against fathers exists in the court system. Outdated ideology insists that mothers hold a more essential role in the life of the child. These ideals stereotype women as the caretakers and providers for the children. They prioritize the mother due to childbirth rights. Mothers do not have to face the uncertainty and stigma of unproven paternity, either.

A father’s role

But women are as capable of abuse, neglect and carelessness as men. Mothers can abuse children just as fathers can. It is unfair to fathers everywhere to automatically side with women due to their status as mothers.

Not only that, but studies often show that two-parent households raise more stable and happier children. These children experience greater financial stability and more emotional support. They often enjoy a smoother transition into adulthood.

For the sake of children, fathers’ rights must have protection. This is especially true in court, where fathers everywhere still have hurdles to overcome.