Child custody for fathers – what are my rights?

During our years of experience in dealing with child custody battles, we found it common for fathers who have challenges regarding child custody to want to know more about their legal rights. Unfortunately, a father paying child maintenance will not be guaranteed full child custody of a child.

Review some of the articles below that deal with the issues of child custody.

• Child custody visitation access- questions and answers
• Child custody frequently asked questions
• Father refused contact with his child. What are his rights?
• Father’s parental responsibilities and rights to his child.
• How do I get full custody of my child?
• Parental child abuse in custody cases- Cape Town
• What does it mean when you have primary residential custody?
• What happens in a case of a custody dispute when one parent is mentally ill?

Grounds for custody

It is often assumed that a court would automatically award custody to the mother. This is not always the case. In some circumstances, the mother may be mentally unstable, or she may have an addiction, or be unable to care for the child adequately – the court will then award custody to the father. The court takes a number of factors into consideration, but the child’s well-being will always be of paramount interest in the court of law. Therefore, if the father were able to care for the child better than the mother, then he should have custody over the child.