McCormack Family Law | Top Divorce Lawyer | Child Custody & Support

Unmarried parents of a child do not automatically have equal rights. By statute, a single mother is the ‘natural legal custodian’ of her child, with the right to make all the decisions. The father has no active parental rights at all. Can unmarried fathers get parental rights? Absolutely.

The idea that ending a marriage is automatically ‘destroying the family’ is a familiar one. But the fact is that many families endure quite well despite divorce.

Psychologist Ruth Bettelheim brought some well-deserved attention to child custody and child support reform in a recent op ed in the New York Times. She advocates for two changes…

Why bother with a parenting plan? Because real life is not very neat. A child may have health issues or special needs that require both parents to agree on how they will conduct certain aspects of childrearing. A non-custodial parent may feel that his or her legitimate interests in children’s wellbeing are simply ignored, that they’ve lost the right to have an opinion.

Toxic stress affects kids for a lifetime. According to the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (NSCDC), toxic stress early in life can lead to lifelong anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse, as well as physical problems including diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

We often don’t think of children as being stressed. That’s an adult thing. But anyone contemplating an end to marriage, either a divorce or a dissolution, when there are minor children involved might want to tune in to stress in kids.

This is a troubled question in family law. It mostly arises in cases where a parent objects to a non-parent maintaining or creating an ongoing relationship with a child. For instance, in Ohio, statutes permit just about anyone to request companionship or visitation time with a minor child. The request is generally granted when the court determines that such companionship is in the child’s best interests.

Ohio statutes and case law propose equal division of property as a place to start. The statute says that ‘the division of marital property shall be equal’ unless equal division is unfair or if it is established that one spouse has engaged in financial misconduct.

There are many individual situations, however, so a court may make adjustments. Here are some common examples.

Dividing pension benefits when a marriage ends is a pretty technical process. You might have a separation agreement that will spell it out. Or your divorce may include many unresolved financial issues. Either way, you should be ready with the particular documents that are needed to divide pension benefits properly.

If you have children, the first issue you should consider is how to create a parenting plan that will, to the greatest extent possible, convince your children that their family is intact, even if their parents’ marriage is not.