When this firm started, it was almost assumed that the mother would obtain custody or retain custody in any given case, unless the mother had certain issues: drug addictions; mental impairment; a history of poor parenting or an otherwise negative history of parenting. This is no longer true. Over 80% of the almost 1,000 cases we handle each year involve custody disputes. It is now commonplace for the man (father) to seek custody, or joint custody at the very least.
To complicate matters, a woman’s position in the workplace has risen, in most instances, to being equal to a man’s, and both men and woman are working full-time immediately after a child is born. Therefore, there is a colorable claim that the mother never actually had “a chain of custody.”
In determining a mother’s rights, the age of a child is important. Children under two are almost never taken from the mother. It is almost a “sure thing” for a mother to obtain custody of her child if the child is under two years old. Mothers are returning to nursing and natural breast feeding, which is dramatically increasing their ability to retain custody of newborns. A mother’s bond with a child is, not openly but, nevertheless obviously, recognized, by all Judges in New York.
Mothers also seem to be the preferred custodial parent for teenagers. A child who attains the age of fourteen (sometimes earlier depending on maturity) can often have a “say” as to who he or she wants to live with. It is our experience that a majority of the cases involve children who want to live with their mothers.
Mothers’ rights include an unspoken preference for the mother to retain custody (it is subtle, but it still exists), and, in the event the parties don’t agree and actually fight for custody, the father will never have joint custody unless the case is settled. If it goes to a Trial, the father will be relegated to visitation or winning sole custody.
