European Court Decision Advances Fathers' Rights

September 01, 2010

A recent decision by the German Constitutional Court provides that men who father children out of wedlock need not obtain the mother's consent to seek legal custody. The court heeded a 2009 European Court of Human Rights ruling that German family law was inconsistent with a European directive to respect and sustain family life, and it also ran afoul of anti-discrimination laws. The interests of a German child in having a relationship with an unmarried father can no longer be subsumed by the mother's parental rights.

Some German conservatives decried the judgment, arguing that it undermined the institution of marriage and reduced its value to mere tax advantages. But reaction was generally positive, praising the long overdue recognition that all children equally deserve the benefit of having a legal relationship with both parents. The Frankfurt newspaper Allgemeine Zeitungput put it simply: "Children need both a mother and a father." Others recognized the practical realities in a country where nearly one of three children is born outside of marriage.

Out of Wedlock or After Divorce, Fathers Deserve a Say in a Child's Upbringing

The American legal system long ago moved beyond the regressive German process, which placed undue legal power in the hands of the mother. But significant issues, from subtle discrimination to blatant unfairness, still exist in American family courts. One prominent current issue is the difficulties many military parents (largely fathers) who are deployed overseas have in maintaining a parenting relationship if the other parent refuses to facilitate contact. In California, proposed legislation would allow designated family members to fulfill the father's parenting time during his absence.

Issues of child support can have a disproportionate effect on fathers, particularly in the slow economic climate of the Great Recession. In a recent statewide sweep in New Jersey, authorities served nearly 1,000 warrants for delinquency on child support payments, but were only able to collect about two percent of the arrears. Such a paltry return obviously says something about the actual ability of many of these obligors to pay.

For parents who feel that court-ordered obligations are unfair or unsustainable, or otherwise have concerns about their parental rights, an experienced divorce attorney can explain legal options such as post-judgment modification or mediation of a workable solution.

Article provided by Jeffrey W. Goldblatt Law Office
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