Can a Father Take a Child Away From the Mother?
Are you a father? or a mother? You might wonder for a while about the nature of the question that I am about to ask next. Can a father take a child away from the mother? Sounds skeptical, right?
This is a question that is emerging among the fathers whose children are born out of wedlock and among fathers who are divorced from their spouses.
It is quite ordinary for that father to feel a concern towards his child, especially when he thinks that the child’s mother does not showcase a character of responsibility towards the child.
So, Can a father take a child away from the mother? Yes, of course. There are some situations where a father can take a child away from the mother. If a father can prove, the mother is unfit for the child’s custody based on character, child abuse, serious physical or mental illnesses, and severe negligence. In that case, the father has to take a court order and prove that he is the best person for the child’s best interest.
Moreover, I will discuss the father’s rights of a child, the mother’s rights over the father, and the possible actions when breaching rights in this article.
Therefore, this will be a comprehensive and long post. So, please uses the following content table to navigate throughout the page easily.
Let’s get started!
Can a parent keep a child away from another parent?
Under the thematic element of this piece of writing, this should be written by focusing on can a father take a child away from the mother. There are some situations where a parent can keep the child away from the other parent.
Sole physical custody
Suppose you are a father who possesses sole physical custody without just possessing the primary custody. In that case, there is no issue for you to take the child away from the mother.
This is a court order imposed on either of the parents concerning the child’s custody. But the scenario becomes reversed if the mother possesses custody over the child; it becomes quite impossible for the father to take the child with him.
This primary custody can be gained for unmarried parents only after visiting the court and applying for custody. For the divorced parents, this custody is given by the court accordingly.
Even though the case is like that, no parent can completely let the child refrain from seeing the other parent entirely unless a court judgment restricts it.
But, this practice of keeping a child away from the other parent happens under the following situations and grounded reasoning.
Protective gatekeeping
This restrictive behavior towards the other parent can be seen under fair and concerning reasonable conditions. Even though they do not have court-derived custody, some parents are very protective of the child by considering his well-being.
Lack of parenting skills and poor anger management of the other parents are significant factors that act as the essential things to be concerned about for a reason behind the emergence of protective gatekeepers from the other end.
Restrictive gatekeeping
If you are the parent who keeps your child away from the other parent for mean things such as exacting revenge, then you eventually fall into the category of restrictive gatekeepers.
These restrictive gatekeepers always attempt to instill a sense of little worthiness concerning the other parent in the child’s mind.
Furthermore, such parents instigate the child to show little respect to the other parents, and co-parenting rarely happens under healthy grounds.
Claiming that not seeing the other parent as the child’s preference
Parental alienation plays a significant role in this. This is isolating the child from the other parent. You may be one of them who is trying to impose a bad image about your partner in the child’s lane of thoughts.
Consciously or unconsciously about the gravity of the action, you are harming your child. Trying to manipulate the child to stay with you by showcasing the fact that it is the child’s preference is not a good thing.
Furthermore, the court needs reliable reasoning to prove that it is the child’s choice to be with that particular parent.
Can a father take a child away from the mother?
A frequently popping up question among single and divorced fathers is that, can a father take a child away from the mother. The question should be answered by being knowledgeable in numerous areas.
Petition to Determine Paternity
This is basically under Florida law. This is the legal establishment for fathers whose children were born out of wedlock. Suppose you are a father who is going through such a scenario.
In that case, you must first get your paternity identity settled with the court and then apply for your child’s custody. Without this paternity determination, you can take a single step towards the parental right on the child in any means most of the time.
Getting sole physical custody would be a dream for a single father unless he can prove the following facts in front of the judicial body.
Child Abuse
This abuse can be of any form. Whether it is verbal abuse, physical abuse, or sexual abuse, it is regarded as a wrongful doing in the eyes of the law.
If the child’s mother is involved in such mean actions, you, as the child’s father, can prove it with crucial evidence to the court and get the sole physical custody of the child.
But, if you provide false allegations, you will be in a position to taste your own medicine since you will have to face certain losses such as losing custody and visitation opportunities.
Substance abuse
This directly deals with drugs and alcohol consumption. For example, if the mother is caught for reckless driving under the influence of the drug and alcohol, even though without the child’s presence, you as the father can take the necessary steps towards the protection of the child.
As long as you are in hand with the evidence, you can keep your child away from the destructive influence of the child’s mother by gaining full custody of the child from the court.
Improper parenting skills
This deals with both the financial and mental capability to address the caretaking procedures of the child.
Being a single father, you can get the advantage of the situation in scenarios where the mother is unable to take care of the child without taking over by severe negligence.
The court usually considers the child’s wellbeing, and the improper parenting skills of the mother would be beneficial for the father.
Can a dad refuse to give the child back?
It can be stated that this is a critical situation. Can a father take a child away from the mother, and being a father, would you engulf in that thought? A dad who refuses to give the child back possessing the parental responsibility has a firm basis of refusal.
This parental responsibility can be simply termed as the rights, duties, powers, and responsibilities of the parent towards the child, and this is implied through a court order.
Let me add a pinch of personal experience concerning this. One of my friends lived separately with her husband, and her child was with the husband. The husband was quite self-obsessed and didn’t allow her child to meet her, let alone giving the child back. She submitted an emergency motion and visited the court to get custody of her child under a more legal background.
Parental kidnapping
In this case, unless the father has sole physical custody, he can’t refuse to return the child. If such a mishap happens, it is considered a criminal offense.
Do not forget that if you involve in this offense being a father, you do have any escape from the dire consequences of it since the mother of the child can do certain things and the most two most prominent things are as follows;
- Inform the police
- File a criminal charge
Do mothers have more rights than fathers?
The various fact differs according to the different systems of laws that prevail in various countries. In out of the wedlock scenarios, the mother gets more rights over the father.
This happens only in the conditions where the father fails to determine his paternity over the child. Even though the situation is that there is not a clear-cut conception that mothers have more rights than fathers.
It should be stated that the custodial decisions will be based on the child’s welfare and not on the gender role of the parenting personality. If you are a father, don’t get blinded by the misconception that mothers have more rights than fathers.
What rights does a father have?
The aspect of the fathers’ rights goes hand in hand with the questionable scenario, can a father take a child away from the mother. Fathers do also have certain rights over their children.
It doesn’t matter whether he is not wedded to the child’s mother, divorced, or separated from his spouse; still, he is entitled to certain rights over his child as long as he is proven to be the child’s biological father.
- Right to spend time with children by being a parent
- Right to get an off time from work to raise the child
- Right to consult before the adoption
- Right to establish paternity
- Right to get child custody when needed
- Right to child visitation
Conclusion
I suppose that the question, can a father take a child away from the mother got a successful answer through this piece of writing. All the fathers out there, this is for you to be more thoughtful when following your process concerning taking authoritative actions towards your children.
You are also a parent, and being humanitarian in taking away the child from his mother would be quite precious.
Just be alert! Don’t let your ego eat up your sensibility by creating adverse effects on your very own child.
Thank you for reading. Stay tuned with BestFamilyLife for more good content.
