False Allegations of Child Abuse

father's rights advocateA disgusting tactic sometimes used against men when the children’s mother perceives there will be a custody dispute is to file false allegations of child abuse and/or domestic violence against the other parent. Courts tend to take these allegations seriously. In my experience, false allegations of both domestic violence and child abuse are made by both men and women. However, they are used much more often by women and courts take allegations of domestic abuse against women more seriously. This turns out to be a tactic with very little downside risk. The reason for this is courts do not usually punish individuals who make false allegations of domestic violence and child abuse.

Child Protective Service investigators and the police tend to believe the accuser. They often ignore the credible explanations made by the individual who is accused of either domestic violence or child abuse.

Control

The tactic of making false allegations of either domestic violence or child abuse has to do with controlling the family situation. In many cases, the false allegations of abuse are part of a program of Parental Alienation Syndrome (hereinafter referred to as “PAS”). The individuals making the false allegations of child abuse are not taking into consideration the long term impact this will have on their children. They are doing this for inappropriate, selfish reasons.

When a mother makes false allegations of child abuse, the father is usually thrown out of the house. This gives the mother exclusive occupancy of the home, control of the home’s assets, and control of the children. The man is put out on the street with just the clothes on his back. He needs to get a court order just to get back in the house and get the rest of his clothing.

Keeping Children From Their Father

After allegations of child abuse are made and a temporary order of protection is issued by a court, it can take weeks and sometimes months until the father has contact with his children again. Children who have not had contact with one of their parents for a considerable period of time sometimes become tentative and shy. If the allegations of child abuse are accompanied by the mother filling the children’s heads with false stories of abuse and neglect, the children can become fearful of their father.

My Way

In the end, the parent making the false allegations of child abuse is saying to the other parent, everything will be done my way. If you don’t do what I say, the way I tell you to do it, you are never going to see your children. Who suffers in the end? Both the loving parent kept away from his children and the children. PAS is a terrible syndrome and it can take long term therapy to deal with this problem if it is not nipped in the bud.helping father's with legal issues to see their children

The Trial of a Custody Case – Part II

father's rights lawyerTemporary Custody

Sometimes, in divorce cases and Family Court custody proceedings, applications are made for temporary custody orders. These temporary custody orders give one parent or the other custody during the pendency of the case. Unfortunately the wheels of justice tend to turn slowly and the custody cases can sometimes languish in courts for years. A parent who receives temporary custody during this period would have a step up on the other parent in obtaining permanent custody. Therefore all temporary custody orders should be taken very seriously.

A temporary custody hearing is a mini trial within the trial. Preparation for this mini trial on custody should be handled in the same manner as the trial for permanent custody.

Settling the Custody Case

In most situations a settlement is the best route to take in a custody dispute. Joint custody can be worked out where one parent is the residential custodial parent and the other parent is the non-residential custodial parent. The non-residential custodial parent can have extensive visitation with the children to satisfy that parent’s needs to maintain a close relationship with the children. In the large majority of custody disputes this is the best route to resolve this issue. It eliminates the children getting too involved in the custody proceeding and the aggravation and stress of going through the trial.

Conclusion

Although custody cases can be aggravating and traumatic for the parents, it is even more traumatic and difficult for the children involved. Care should be taken that the trial and/or negotiations in the custody case are done out of sight and hearing of the children. The children should be insulated from custody litigation, issues in Family Court, and divorces. Children are designed by God to love both their parents. Frustrating or alienating the children from one parent to another is the worst possible outcome. Children are better off with two loving parents to guide them through life situations.custody litigation assistance for fathers

The Trial of a Custody Case – Part I

father's rights lawyers on Long IslandWinning Custody Trials

Custody disputes are personal. They involve children. Your children. They can be expensive, aggravating, and frustrating. They are not as simple as who is the better parent.

Parents Can Be Imperfect

No parent always does the right thing in every situation. Even the best most dedicated parents have flaws, faults and issues that can be brought up to a court. Attorneys preparing for custody litigation must deal with parents’ strengths and their weaknesses.

Arguments That It Is In The Children’s Best Interests That You Receive Custody

Your custody case should have a theme based on the theory the children’s best interests are better served with you receiving custody of them. This theme must be developed to deal with specific facts involving you and your children. This must also be developed to show giving the other parent custody would not be in the children’s best interests.

Why A Parent Seeks to Have Custody

There are many reasons why parents want custody of their children. Your attorney should discuss with you your real motives for having custody of your children. Be advised, avoiding paying child support is not an appropriate reason for wanting custody of your children.

Client’s Conduct in Custody Lawsuits

If you are involved in litigating a custody case, you must assume the other parent is trying to find “dirt” on you. You should be careful as to what you say and what you do. You should avoid writing things down on paper. Don’t be surprised if the other parent is trying to intercept your phone calls, read your emails, and speak to your friends, relatives, paramours, and neighbors about information to be utilized in the custody trial against you.

Evidence in Custody Trials

Custody matters are brought in front of judges. There are no juries in custody cases. There are generally two types of evidence submitted at custody proceedings. Documentary evidence which involve documents of a certain type and nature that can be presented into evidence and live testimony of witnesses. It is often necessary to have a live witness testify to get documentary, written, evidence into the record. The rules regarding the presentation of evidence are quite complicated. This is a matter you should discuss in detail with your attorney prior to the trial as to which documents will be presented and how those documents will be presented into evidence.

Witnesses must present facts. These facts should be about the child’s life and how one parent or the other has had an affirmative or negative impact on the child’s life.custody litigation attorneys

Halle Berry Paying $16,000 Per Month For Child Support Payments

father's rights attorneys and advocatesHalle Berry has been involved in a long, drawn out litigation involving child custody and child support. She was recently ordered to pay $16,000 in child support payments to Gabriel Aubrey with regard to supporting the parties’ six year old daughter, Nahla. This child support has to be paid by her each month until Nahla is 19 years old or graduates high school, whichever event should occur first. In addition, Halle Berry was ordered to pay $300,000 in legal fees to Gabriel Aubrey and $115,000 in retroactive child support payments. It is reported these sums are pursuant to a settlement of a case involving Ms. Berry and Mr. Aubrey which had been pending in Los Angeles Superior Court.

History Between the Parties

Halle met Gabriel in 2005. Halle Berry is an Academy Award winning actress and Gabriel Aubrey is a Canadian model.

Relocating to France

At one point during their legal battles, Halle Berry brought a proceeding to relocate her daughter to France. She was unsuccessful in this proceeding. At the present time, both Berry and Aubrey have joint custody of the parties’ six year old daughter. However, Aubrey is the residential custodial parent.

Last year, Ms. Berry gave birth to another child with her current husband, Oliver Martinez.

father's rights lawyer on long islandElliot Schlissel is a father’s rights attorney. He represents fathers in custody litigation, child support litigation, and issues involving visitation rights and parenting time.

What To Do If Your Children Are Taken By Child Protective Services – Part I

father's rights advocateIf your child is taken by Child Protective Services the first thing you need to do is to hire an attorney who has extensive experience in litigating child seizure cases with Child Protective Services. Child Protective Services seize children when they feel the children are in danger of being harmed, abused or neglected.

There are three different trials that can be undertaken to help return your children to you.

Detention Hearing

After a child is seized by Child Protective Services, you can demand a detention hearing within 72 hours. Your attorney should immediately demand this hearing. You should not consent to the detention of your child. It may be suggested to you by your attorney that you wait until the jurisdictional hearing in 30 days to present your defense. Don’t go along with this! Demand a detention hearing immediately.

It may be claimed challenging the detention will hurt you in the long run. Don’t believe it. One of the primary reasons for demanding a detention hearing within 72 hours is that Child Protective Services will have difficulty putting their case together for trial at this point.

This is an excellent opportunity for your attorney to help you have your children returned to you. This also gives you an opportunity to get in front of a judge and hear the allegations made by Child Protective Services which are the basis for removing the child from you. If you fail to litigate the issue of the detention of the children by Child Protective Services, you are creating a problem for yourself. The fact they have your child and are keeping your child will become the law of the case. When you demand a detention hearing you may be offered a compromise arrangement by Child Protective Services. Unless you are guilty of the allegations they made against you, do not make a deal. Move forward with the detention hearing. If Child Protective Services has your children, make sure your attorney brings an application to the court for visitation with your children. If the court wants to leave the visitation arrangements to a caseworker, object to it. Tell them you want a court order with regard to visitation concerning your children.

The attorney representing Child Protective Services may request to the court the jurisdictional hearing and the dispositional hearing be held at the same time. Have your attorney object to this. Each of the hearings gives you an opportunity to get your children back. You are better off with two opportunities to get them back than only one!help dealing with CPS and ACS

Forensic Evaluator Removed: Report Not Accepted

father's rights attorney on long islandIn contested custody disputes, courts often hire a psychologist or a social worker to do a forensic analysis as to which parent would be better suited to be the custodial parent of the children. The forensic evaluator is supposed to look into all aspects of the interaction of the parents and the children and make recommendations in the children’s best interest as to which parent would be more suitable or the better residential custodial parent.

Forensic Evaluator’s Report

Justice Jeffrey Goodstein sitting in the Supreme Court Divorce Part in Nassau County, New York, recently had a case involving issues concerning a forensic evaluator’s report.

A father had brought an application to change custody. In the event of the modification of the custody, he also wanted his child support payments eliminated. The attorneys for the wife opposed the father’s application and a hearing was scheduled. The court appointed a forensic evaluator, a psychologist, to do a forensic analysis regarding parenting time and issues concerning custody of the children.

Forensic Evaluator’s Failures

The attorney for the husband brought an application to appoint a different forensic evaluator. In reviewing the application by the husband, the court made the following findings. The forensic evaluator who had been appointed, had failed to act with an acceptable standards for a forensic evaluator. This evaluator had not looked into Child Protective Services reports, issues concerning sexual abuse, and the facts and circumstances of the various mental health professionals that had cared for the father and mother and the children during the past few years. The evaluator said she rendered her report based on the interviews she had with the parties. The evaluator admitted she did not perform any psychological tests on the parties. Justice Goodstein found this evaluator had deviated from acceptable standards for forensic evaluations concerning child custody issues. He therefore did not accept the report into evidence and did not consider it in making a decision. However, he did find that although this forensic evaluator’s report would not come into evidence, he still needed the report of a forensic evaluator in order to determine the various issues concerning parenting time and custody presented to him in this case. He therefore had the parties retain a new forensic evaluator.

Are Forensic Evaluators Needed?

There is controversy as to the need for forensic evaluators in custody cases. The judge should be the ultimate decision maker of who gets custody and who is the more appropriate custodial parent for the children. In this case the parties spent a lot of money on one forensic evaluator and now they are going to have to spend a lot of money on a second one. Hopefully the second evaluator will do a more complete evaluation.child custody help for fathers

The Number of Stay at Home Dads Increases

father's rights lawyerThere are approximately 2,000,000 stay at home dads in the United States. This is pursuant to the Pew Research Center. The large majority of stay at home dads aren’t working because they are taking active roles in raising their children. In 1989 only 5% of stay at home dads were involved in raising their children. Today, more than 20% of the stay at home dads are the primary parent responsible for their children’s needs.

Illness, Unemployment and Other Factors With Stay at Home Dads

The proportion of stay at home fathers who are either disabled, unable to find work, or sick has decreased from approximately half of the stay at home dads in 1989 to about 1/3 of the stay at home dads today.

Stay at Home Dads and Father’s Rights

As women have become more successful in the workforce, more and more women are busy developing successful careers. Having a successful career and being the primary caretaker of the children usually does not work out well. So successful business women need the comfort of knowing a loving parent is staying home with the children and meeting the children’s needs. Should there be a break up in the relationship between the mother and father, stay at home dads have a significant argument to become the residential custodial parent of the children. This will give the children continuity in their lives. This is also the argument which women have been making to become the primary residential custodial parent for a century!

Elliot S. Schlissel is a father’s rights lawyer who has been representing fathers in custody cases for more than 45 years.advocate for fathers in custody cases

Grandparents Rights After Divorces

father's rights attorneysGrandparents often have special relationships with their grandchildren. Sometimes the problems in the relationship between the parents, can disrupt the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren. So what can a grandparent do if the residential custodial parent refuses to give them access to their grandchildren?

Grandparents’ Rights

Grandparents can bring legal proceedings to force the custodial parent of their grandchildren to give them access and visitation with their grandchildren. In cases where grandparents have had relationships with their grandchildren or the grandchildren have lived with them, courts are especially cognizant of the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren being in the grandchildren’s best interest.

Custody for Grandparents

If neither of the parents are appropriate individuals to have custody of their children, grandparents have a right to step in and ask the courts for custody. In cases where the parents are unfit, have drug problems, alcohol problems, have issues involving child abuse and/or child neglect, grandparents are a valuable resource to help their grandchildren lead normal fulfilling lives. Grandparents can not only win custody but they can also be appointed the legal guardian of their grandchildren.

Grandparents Issues and Legal Complications

The law in the State of New York seeks to have the biological parents of their children raise the children whenever possible. The circumstances and situations where grandparents can obtain visitation rights and/or custody of their grandchildren are fact sensitive and involve sophisticated legal issues. If you, a friend or family member have questions concerning grandparents rights, feel free to call our law firm. Our phones are monitored 24/7. We can be reached at 718-350-2802, 516-561-6645, or 1-800-344-6431. We have been fighting for grandparents’ rights for more than 45 years and we have a long history of success in the representation of grandparents involving custody and visitation issues.advocate for grandparents rights

Separation Agreement Upheld: Husband’s Request To Set It Aside Denied

father's rights attorneysA husband and wife entered into a separation agreement. The separation agreement dealt with issues concerning custody, parenting time, and the parties’ finances. The agreement specifically provided during the period of time the parties were legally separated they would continue to deal with their finances as they had in the past while they were married. Pursuant to this portion of the agreement, both parties were to deposit their wages into a joint bank account at HSBC.

Husband Fails to Comply With Agreement

The husband stopped depositing his earnings into the bank account. The wife brought a proceeding to enforce the parties’ separation agreement and cause the husband to continue depositing his income into the joint HSBC account. The husband took the position the separation agreement should be declared invalid and he should not be responsible for depositing his income into the HSBC joint account.

Justice Jeffrey Goodstein sitting in the Supreme Court Part in Nassau County found the husband had breached the terms of the agreement and the wife had not. He granted the application from the wife to cause the husband to deposit all of his income for the years 2012 and 2013 into the joint bank account. In addition, he ordered both the husband and the wife to provide each other with a detailed accounting of the use of the funds which were deposited into the joint HSBC account. Judge Goodstein denied the husband’s application to set aside the separation agreement.

Conclusion

Let’s start with the fact that if you are getting legally separated, you shouldn’t be sharing a joint bank account. You should each have separate bank accounts. This seems to be a very poorly drafted separation agreement. In the end, if you enter into a validly executed separation agreement, a court will most likely force you to live up to its terms.

Husbands and fathers should be careful as to what they sign!

Elliot S. Schlissel is a father’s rights lawyer. He has been representing fathers for more than 45 years.custody and parenting rights advocates for fathers

Boyfriend’s Parental Rights Maintained

father's rights lawyerIn a case of first impression, Matter of A.S. v. B.H., a mother brought an application seeking to set aside an acknowledgment of paternity which had been signed by her boyfriend. The mother claimed after the acknowledgment of paternity was executed, she performed a home DNA test and found out the boyfriend was not the child’s biological father. The mother claimed the child, who was three years old, had special needs and was incapable of bonding with the father. She therefore claimed the father should have no parental rights with regard to the child.

Child’s Bonding with Father

Family Court Judge Michael Hanuszczak found the mother’s argument concerning the child’s bonding ability, “exaggerated and self serving.” He also found her assertions concerning the issue of bonding to be speculative. He went on in his decision to state “under [the mother’s] line of reasoning, a special needs child…would be denied a father if the mother did not lend her approval to the relationship.” He further stated “in cases involving the best interests of a child the court looks beyond any limitations of the child to determine whether a parental relationship exists.”

Family History

The mother and boyfriend had a relationship from time to time. The boyfriend had signed an acknowledgment of paternity when the child was born in December 2011. The mother was unsure of whether the boyfriend was actually the biological father of the child. There was testimony that showed the boyfriend was involved in the raising of the child during the period of time the parties lived together. The boyfriend and the child developed a relationship with each other until such time as the boyfriend’s relationship with the mother soured. She then cut off his relationship with the child.

The Judge’s Decision

Judge Hanuszczak in his decision, ruled it was not in the child’s best interest to vacate the acknowledgment of paternity. He also saw no reason to order the child, who had bonded with the boyfriend, not be allowed to have a relationship with the boyfriend because a situation had been created where it was in the child’s best interest to maintain that relationship. The boyfriend was the only father figure this child knew. The attorney for the boyfriend stated “my client was able to show that he was the sole father figure in this child’s life and to remove him would destroy the parent child relationship.”

Conclusion

This decision is a victory for father’s rights.parental rights advocate