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This Father’s Day Weekend, think about fathers’ rights

by | Jun 18, 2021 | Fathers' Rights |

At the Law Office of Lisa A. Vance, we think a lot about what’s best for children in a divorce and as they grow up in divorced households. In many cases, that involves fathers being allowed time and space to be in their children’s lives. In fact, more judges are beginning to recognize the importance of fathers as children develop and grow. As we wrote in our website’s resource page on fathers’ rights, “Not long ago, courts may have favored mothers over fathers in custody disputes, but no longer. In fact, Texas law recognizes that children do best when each parent maintains an active parenting role.” 

That doesn’t mean that every father gets a fair shake in a divorce trial, custody hearing or modification case, however. As we also wrote on that page, “Fathers still need tough, skilled legal representation in a custody or divorce matter,” and that’s something we’re able to provide our clients. 

When we wrote the article detailing this facet of our family law practice, we identified a few areas of concern that fathers come to us with when they schedule an initial consultation to discuss their options. Those are: 

  • The paternity of your child is being denied by his or her biological parent
  • The custody and/or visitation agreement is being disputed
  • You are being accused of being uninvolved in your child’s life
  • Unjust limitations have been placed upon your relationship with your child
  • Your paternal rights are being wrongfully terminated

In each of those cases, a mother and that mother’s legal team may draw upon biases about women being better suited or better able to parent. While that’s not something we subscribe to, that’s something we’re certainly conscious of in our court systems. We’ve been in practice long enough to have worked with a lot of the judges in Bexar County and surrounding counties, and we know which ones are the most evolved in their views of fathers. 

Even if your judge might be biased toward mothers, there are still strategies that can be employed to work in your favor. In our initial consultation, and in our work with clients beyond that, we work with fathers to learn more about the case and determine the best strategies for arriving at the outcomes that are most important to you. 

As in all legal matters, of course, being honest and thorough in relaying information about your case to your lawyer works to your advantage. That will minimize the chance of your lawyer having to navigate surprises while representing you. That will also put you and your lawyer in the best position to compare the different options in your case. 

If you’re a father and one of the above-listed issues pertains to your case, you should definitely schedule an initial consultation with one of our lawyers to go over your options. Even if your situation isn’t on this list, it’s worth checking in with us if you think there might be a legal solution to your case. We’re proud to be a strong advocate for fathers, as we believe them to be advocates for those who will ultimately be impacted in cases involving children: the children themselves.

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