Primary child custody is no longer the exclusive domain of biological mothers as over the past few years more and more fathers are being awarded custody and are taking on the responsibility of being a single parent.
In 2006 a survey was conducted by participating attorneys of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and from there it was discovered that there has been a shift in the court systems with more judges realizing that the best interest of the child may be to live primarily with their father, and therefore awarding primary custody to dad.
And while the survey found that the number of father’s who are single parents has increased over the year, the same group of lawyers didn’t report seeing the number of single mothers increasing.
According to some fathers’ rights groups, this change in what is considered the norm is a sign that not only do fathers want to be the primary parent – and the courts are realizing this – but that those fathers are also just as capable as being a good parent as the child’s mother.
However, even though more and more fathers are raising their children these days, one trend that hasn’t yet taken hold is single fathers requesting child support. Although courts may grant a custodial father support to help him raise his children, some experts claims that many single dads fear a re-opened custody battle with their ex if they attempt to actually collect that support.
Overall, this trend toward more fathers being awarded custody shows a real -across-the-board change taking place. And with more and more single fathers in the country, it’s most likely that more support groups will start to form and that there will be more financial resources for fathers to make sure that they are receiving the money they need to raise their children.
Source: Detroit Free Press, “As number of single dads rise, many struggle to find balance,” Hannah Dreier, 29 June 2011
