Very Intersting Blog

I have been reading a new blog about a father's fight in Kentucky Supreme Court, It's a very moving and trying story. Click here to visit his Blog

so What don't you stop by and read, lean support and comments and messages of hope for this father.

On a personal note, about his case, though he might have lost his case, I would have to wonder if the mother of his child and her husband was to divorce, just who would they go after for Child Support.

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Gay sperm donor denied son access

Civil liberties groups demanded radical reform of family law after a gay man, who donated sperm to a lesbian couple, was refused rights to his biological son.

Dublin's High Court ruled that the man, who had been friends with the women, should have no guardianship or access to the child and the toddler would be better off with the couple. The landmark ruling is the latest case to expose serious gaps in family law, fathers' rights and a lack of legislation on same-sex couples.

The Unmarried and Separated Fathers of Ireland warned the decision could end up being a major setback for fathers' rights. Legal spokesman Donnacha Murphy said: "Legislation may further the issue of inequality in Irish family life. The only way to achieve ultimate equality is by an amendment to the constitution."

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How much would you like to bet if the those mommy need more money they will hit him up for child support and win.

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Court gives fugitive mother custody

A landmark child custody ruling has left a Czech mother relieved to be allowed to keep her son in the country, and an American father planning an appeal to have the child returned to him in the United States.

On Feb. 25, Prague 5 District Court decided that Czech citizen Veronika Horváthová, who had kidnapped her 4-year-old son Adrian from his father, California resident Pablo Santana, would be given full custody. This is the first time in Czech history that the Child Abduction Section of the Hague Convention has been used to grant custody to a parent who has kidnapped a child.

read more here.

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If a father had done this the other Country would return the Child ASP back to the mother in USA. Its seem to me that in everyone of these case the mother always claim abuse by the father to keep the child with her and to justify her actions.

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Don't leave fathers out of custody cases

DIVORCED FATHERS and their children deserve a better deal than they're getting from the courts. A shared parenting bill in the state House would create a "rebuttable presumption" - that as long as both parents are fit and it is practical, both parents are entitled to equal custody of the children. Currently, custody almost always goes solely to the mother when she objects to shared parenting.

A "rebuttable presumption" is an easy concept.

The court starts with the common sense position that it is usually in the best interest of children that they be raised equally by both parents after separation. As much as is reasonably practical, the court allows the children to spend equal time with both their mothers and fathers. It is a "rebuttable" presumption because the other parent could introduce evidence that a parent is unsuitable, or that as a practical matter it would be logistically unworkable, and that they have not done anything improper to make it unworkable.

The chief focus in child custody cases would continue to be on what is best for the child and nothing would be "automatic." A judge would still examine every individual case to make sure the child's needs are being met. In fact, "rebuttable presumptions" are nothing new in child custody cases.

Since 1999 we have had a "rebuttable presumption" that seriously violent parents should not be awarded custody of their children. None of the silly parade of horribles of judges with their hands tied automatically dispensing custody decrees without examining the facts of each individual case, resulted.

Currently, Massachusetts statutory law does not presume that there should or should not be joint physical custody. But there's a big difference between the law and reality. In courtrooms across the state, when a mother objects to joint physical custody, she essentially extinguishes the hope of the father, even when sharing custody seems eminently workable and in the children's best interest. A study by Joseph McNabb of Laboure College found that mothers obtained sole physical custody 83.2 percent of the time, fathers obtained sole custody 8.8 percent of the time, and joint custody was only awarded 8 percent of the time.

That's a devastating number for fathers who want to be meaningful parts of their children's lives. Many fathers justifiably feel as if their children have been the victims of state-sponsored kidnapping, punished for committing the unpardonable sin of being the primary breadwinner. Though opponents claim that more research is necessary, the effects of fatherlessness have been abundantly studied.

According to divorcemag.com, fatherless homes account for 63 percent of youth suicides, 90 percent of homeless/runaway children, 85 percent of children with behavior problems, 71 percent of high school dropouts, 85 percent of youths in prison, and more than 50 percent of teen mothers. Dr. Robert Bauserman did a meta-analysis (a study of all the studies) of 33 studies between 1982 to 1999 published by the American Psychological Association. In total, 1,846 sole-custody and 814 joint-custody children were studied. He concluded that "Children in joint custody arrangements had less behavioral and emotional problems, had higher self-esteem, better family relations and school performance than children in sole custody arrangements."

Most people don't need research to convince them of the obvious overwhelming benefits of fathers. They already know. That's why shared parenting won 87 percent of the support of Massachusetts voters when it was a non-binding ballot question in 2004.

Shared parenting reduces litigation as parties do not have to continually go to court in the never-ending battle to prove that they are the better parent and deserve sole custody of the child.

Equality, mutual respect, ending conflict and endless litigation and providing children both of their parents - values not fostered by the current system - would not only benefit the parents, but it would be of incalculable value to the children. That's why we need shared parenting.

Rinaldo Del Gallo III is a family law attorney and a spokesman for Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition.

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New twist in parents' battle for toddler

One small child, two abductions, three false passports, four years of fighting, at least 11 court actions - and the battle between two bitter parents is far from over.

The South African woman who snatched her son from her ex-husband and fled to South Africa has now lost custody of her son in the US and faces an attempt to extradite her.

On Thursday, more papers were filed in the Pretoria High Court in the battle for custody over Liam Berger, four, the US-born child snatched by Linda Volschenk Berger in October and taken halfway around the world on a false passport.

The papers indicate that Hal Berger, Liam's father, won an emergency order from the California courts for sole legal and physical custody of Liam on October 12, two days after Linda failed to return Liam to his father after a visit and disappeared with him.

The same court order bars Linda from any contact with Liam and orders her to return the boy to his father.

Eleven days later, the California court issued a "felony complaint for extradition" against Linda for disappearing with Liam.

The court action is one of two under way in the Pretoria High Court between the warring parents and the South African authorities acting with powers conferred by an international treaty on child abductions.

The first case was brought by Linda in early November against the SA Central Authority and Hal. In this case, Linda won an interim order allowing her to stay in SA, have custody of Liam and blocked Hal's access to the boy.

This case backfired on Linda when she was forced to admit she had used false passports to leave the US, travel through various countries and arrive in SA. In December, she has to explain to the court why she should not be arrested for failing to provide the documents.

The second was brought by the Central Authority and Hal against Linda to demand Liam's return to the US.

Hal's lengthy affidavit, filed in both cases, details the protracted fight over Liam's custody, court battles, arrest warrants, fights at international airports, and squabbles over cars he paid for Linda to use in the US.

In an affidavit to the Pretoria High Court, Linda said her situation in the US was intolerable.

Earlier, Linda's mother told The Star she was concerned that Hal was abusing Liam.

In his affidavit filed in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday, Hal said Linda told the California court in April that "Hal is a good parent" and that it was best for Liam to stay in the US.

I'm so glad that these mother don't run with the kids. I wonder what will happen to her once she is back. I bet she will be let off easy. We all know if this was daddy, he will be in jail for years.

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Man who was deceived about paternity retains custody

The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that people who deceive their spouses into thinking that a child is theirs cannot later contest their right to custody -- even if DNA tests show they are not the parent.

The court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling granting primary custody to Ren Ricky Hinshaw, whose wife led him to believe he was the father of their child until they divorced and she produced genetic testing showing the child wasn't his.

In an opinion issued Thursday, the court said that the "acts, language and silence" of Hinshaw's ex-wife, Jacqueline Lenarz, "were aimed at misleading Ren into believing he was Asher's biological father." The court also said that while they were married, she intended for him and the child to develop a strong father-son relationship.

The Courier-Journal outlined the case in a March 18, 2007, story about how courts are grappling with vexing questions about what makes a father a father -- whether it is the man who contributed the sperm or the one who changed a child's diapers, taught her how to ride a bike and took her to soccer practice.

The story described how Hinshaw, then 58, was fighting to retain joint custody of a child he helped raise and loves as his own, even after finding out the boy was not his biological child.

"He is my son, and I am his dad," Hinshaw said at the time.

Hinshaw's lawyer, Stephen Imhoff, said his client, who has had primary custody of the child pending the ruling, is pleased.

"It's been a long haul, and he is extremely happy," Imhoff said.

Lenarz's lawyer, Peter Ostermiller, said she was disappointed and that they are reviewing whether there are grounds for an appeal in federal court.

The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Bill Cunningham, described how Hinshaw was in the delivery room when the boy he thought was his son was born in 1999.

Hinshaw, a technology consultant at the University of Louisville's Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, cut the umbilical cord and later taught the boy to talk and volunteered at his school, according to court records.

But when Lenarz, also a librarian, divorced Hinshaw in 2003, she disclosed he wasn't the biological father and asked Jefferson Family Court to deny him custody, citing DNA tests which showed he couldn't be the father.

A court-appointed psychologist who met with the child concluded he had bonded with Hinshaw and that severing the relationship would cause the boy "severe emotional and psychological harm," the Supreme Court noted.

It also said that a family court judge, awarding principal custody to Hinshaw, said that his wife had "always represented, both to Ren and the world," that he was the child's father.

The Court of Appeals last year affirmed the decision, but Lenarz appealed.

The Supreme Court said that if Hinshaw had known that he wasn't the father when the child was born, he could have tried to adopt him.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.

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