Father’s Rights in PA
When you and the other parent of your child have chosen to live your lives separately, it can be difficult to work together to continue raising your children. In court, there are many cases where mothers have been known to vilify the child’s father and do everything they can to minimize the father’s rights.
However, as your child’s father, you have certain rights that should be enforced at all times. Continue reading to learn more about what these rights are and how we can protect your rights from being infringed upon.
Your Rights as a Father in Pennsylvania
If you and your child’s other parent have only recently decided to go your separate ways, you will want to start developing your child custody arrangement, visitation schedule, and parenting plan as soon as possible. Having this plan in place should prevent your child’s other parent from keeping your child from you should you have an argument or disagree about certain matters.
Pennsylvania family courts recognize that it is in the children’s best interest to spend as much quality time as possible with both of their parents. With that being said, as long as the courts have no reason to believe that you are an unfit parent, you should be granted shared physical and legal custody of your children.
Once this order has been implemented, you should have the right to see your children on the agreed-upon days and times and to overall be as involved in their lives as you wish to be. The goal is to be able to co-parent with their other parent so that the children lead as normal a life as possible following your split.
Enforcing Your Parental Rights
Having an existing child custody order should help protect your rights as a father; however, parents disobeying custody orders happens far more frequently than you might think. In the event that your child’s other parent refuses to comply with your custody arrangement, whether you have a shared custody plan or not, they can be found in contempt of court.
Penalties for refusal to follow a court-ordered custody agreement can result in custody being transferred to the parent who was complying with the custody plan, making up time that was missed due to the custody plan being disrupted, and even imprisonment.
Additionally, if your child’s parent moves your children away from where you both reside without your consent, the courts could determine that their custodial rights be revoked. In any case, our firm will be by your side ready to ensure that your Pennsylvania parental rights are enforced at all times.
Contact a PA Father’s Rights Lawyer
If you have further questions about what your rights as a father are, or if your child’s other parent has violated your parental rights and you are not sure what steps should be taken, contact an experienced PA father’s rights lawyer at Lisa Marie Vari & Associates, P.C.
You can schedule your initial case review today by calling our office at 1-844-VARI-LAW (827-4529) or by filling out the brief contact form that we have included on our site.