Your marriage may not have been successful but you always felt you were a good dad. As part of your divorce settlement, you wanted shared custody of your children, but things said in court resulted in your ex achieving full custody and you limited visitation time. Now, you are lucky if your ex lets you see your kids at all. What can you do if your fathers’ rights are being ignored by your ex and Tennessee courts?
While most states, Tennessee included, are moving toward allowing parents to equally share custody of their children, sometimes the court deems visitation rather that split custody necessary. Usually, substantiated claims of abuse or addiction must exist for this to happen. The key word here: substantiated. Without evidence that you are a danger to your child or are unfit to properly raise your child, there is no reason to refuse your shared custody request.
If you feel that the courts treated you unfairly in your initial custody hearings or you feel that your ex is failing to allow you access to your children for the limited visitation time given you, you do not have to sit by and take it. You can do something about it. With the assistance of legal counsel, you can fight for a fair custody arrangement or at least have your ex held in contempt for violating the standing custody order.
There are a lot of good dads in the state of Tennessee. Their fathers’ rights should not be ignored because traditionally children live with their mothers following divorce or allegations that make them look bad are made. To learn more about this topic and what you can do if you find yourself in this situation, please visit our firm’s website.