North Texas Child Custody Lawyer
Parental rights are among the most fundamental human rights. Both the father and mother are expected to be responsible for their own children, and in most cases both parties deserve fair amounts of parenting time with their children. When parents are separated (even if unmarried) or divorced, family law usually serves to preserve and protect the parent-child bond for both parents.
Fathers' Rights
While both male and female clients entrust their legal matters to Paula A. Lock Law Office, P.C., the law firm often represents fathers seeking to protect and strengthen their parental bonds with their children in the face of bitter custody or conservatorship disputes. Texas statutes make it clear that there is to be no gender bias in child custody cases. But fathers' rights often require extra attention and care when a mother and father have separated. In many conservative communities, a father has to strongly assert his right to spend significant amounts of parenting time with his children when he and the mother are separated, divorced or were never married to each other.
North Texas fathers and mothers are encouraged to contact Paula A. Lock Law Office, P.C. to schedule a consultation in the event of a separation or divorce to discuss the legal process for determining custody and visitation, including such provisions as:
- Sole custody
- Joint custody
- Sole managing conservatorship
- Possessory conservatorship
Certain circumstances may lead courts to deviate from standard custody sharing arrangements. Examples of such exceptional circumstances are a history of violence by either parent (or a resident step-parent figure), acknowledged substance abuse (alcohol or illegal drugs) by either parent, or frequent out-of-town travel by one of the parents.
Even when both parents are entitled to custody of a child in Texas, it is rare for both to receive equal parenting time. One parent will have the right to establish the residence of the child while the other parent will have visitation rights. Often this means every other weekend (or the first, third and fifth weekends), every other holiday and a longer visitation period in the summer.
When Separated Same-Sex Partners Have Shared Parenting of a Child
One partner of a same-sex couple who has shared parenting responsibilities sometimes requires legal help to assert and protect established emotional bonds with children when a relationship ends. Paula A. Lock has represented biological mothers as well as non-biological parents in custody disputes between gay partners. For the non-biological same-sex partner who is a parental figure in a child's life, there is a very limited window of time to file a case for visitation or shared custody in Texas. Contact an experienced child custody lawyer to learn how to best protect parental bonds in gay families.
Discuss how these and other Texas family law provisions will affect your family's child custody decisions when you and your husband or wife, ex-husband or ex-wife, ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, or former same-sex (GLBT) partner are separated and must decide how to share parenting duties. Fathers in particular are encouraged to take steps to protect their parental rights, regardless of the status of the relationship with the mother. Contact family law attorney Paula Lock concerning related legal issues such as child support, paternity (parentage), step-parent adoption and guardian ad litem cases.
