Arizona courts were biased toward mothers in child custody decisions for decades until a change in state law in 2013. Under the updated guidelines, Arizona courts dropped all presumptions based on gender. Instead, the courts now decide all child custody cases and child support orders in the best interests of the children, beginning with the presumption that continued close contact with both parents is in a child’s best interests unless a parent can convincingly demonstrate otherwise to the court. Today, many fathers enjoy 50/50 shared custody of the children or have primary custody, depending on the unique circumstances of the case.
Arizona’s previous laws heavily favoring mothers often left fathers without legal recourse. Today, fathers in Anthem and throughout Arizona have rights. Unfortunately, it often takes a father’s rights lawyer in Anthem to legally advocate for those rights so fathers can assert the same rights and obligations toward their children as mothers, whether unmarried or married and divorcing.
If you’re a father facing a child custody or child support proceeding in Anthem, call the Anthem father’s rights lawyers at Stewart Law Group today so we can ensure the courts recognize your rights and your children’s best interests in your case.
Why Choose Us for Your Father’s Rights Attorneys in Anthem?
The lawyers at Stewart Law Group understand the deep bond fathers have for their children. We are dedicated to protecting a father’s rights throughout all paternity, child custody, and child support disputes in Arizona courts. Our team provides the following advantages:
- Over 100 years of combined experience navigating family law cases in Arizona
- A collaborative team-oriented approach to strategizing the best way forward for each case
- The individualized attention of an attorney who will take the time to get to know you and develop a personalized legal plan to advance toward the outcome you want for your family
- A resolution-oriented approach that works toward settling disputes out of court whenever possible, but doesn’t hesitate to compelling advocate for clients in front of a judge
The Anthem father’s rights lawyers at Stewart Law Group have been representing fathers and supporting their rights in legal cases for many years with a strong track record of success. We’ll put a powerful voice behind your case.
How a Father’s Rights Attorney Can Help You
No one should go it alone when it comes to the most critically important legal cases—those that impact your family, and your children’s daily lives and routines. A dedicated father’s rights attorney can help your case by doing the following:
- Presenting legal counsel to guide you through all aspects of your case with a clear, precise pathway forward
- Diligently navigating all paperwork and filings so your case proceeds smoothly
- Negotiating settlements with a resolution-based approach to all disputes
- Drafting settlement agreements in divorce cases, including those with legal custody, and parenting time schedules for shared custody of children
- Strongly advocating in court to present the most persuasive argument for the desired outcome for you and your children
A father’s rights lawyer in Anthem is ready to help navigate your case with the dedicated attention, dignity, and respect you deserve.
How Can Paternity Impact Your Legal Case?
For unmarried co-parents, a presumptive father must first legally establish paternity before he can gain full parental rights and obligations toward a child. Unlike mothers, biological fathers only have the state’s presumption of paternity if they were married to the mother at least 10 months before the child’s birth.
In most cases, a court-ordered paternity test conducted through an approved lab is the best way to establish paternity in Arizona. The court will also establish a father’s paternity if both parents sign a legal acknowledgment of paternity as well as signing the child’s birth certificate. Once a father has established paternity, the state protects their legal rights and obligations, including a right to shared parenting time, legal decision-making for the child, and an obligation to pay child support.
Until a father has established paternity, they have no rights toward a child. An attorney from Stewart Law Group can help obtain a court order for paternity testing at a state-approved laboratory to establish paternity before moving forward to claim all parental rights.
What are the Biggest Challenges Father’s Face?
In Arizona, mothers and fathers have equal rights and obligations to their children. Despite Arizona’s laws giving fathers equal rights to parent their children, the courts do not always act with complete impartiality. Fathers still sometimes face unconscious bias and mothers do not always respect a father’s equal rights to parent their children. In court disputes, fathers may still face challenges, including the following:
- Unlike biological mothers, unmarried fathers are not under presumption as the child’s father without a paternity test
- Some mothers feel entitled to primary custody and may ignore court orders, in which case a father’s rights lawyer in Anthem can help with child custody enforcement measures such as contempt charges
- Fathers sometimes face false accusations of abuse, neglect, or unfit parenting from the child’s mother as an attempt to gain the advantage in a custody dispute
Even today, mothers have primary custody of their children in 80% of divorce cases, but often this is because fathers either do not seek a larger role in parenting their children or they aren’t aware that they have equal rights and may pursue shared custody arrangements in a settlement or court.
Arizona’s Child’s Best Interest Standard
Courts in Arizona always make decisions in the best interests of the children. Often, the court considers which parent has done the bulk of the primary caregiving up until this point, such as attending school events, meeting with teachers, organizing birthday parties, and the day-to-day caregiving. This may leave some men at a disadvantage over those men who participate more fully in caring for children and all that this entails. An Arizona father’s rights lawyer in Anthem can help you document your activities with your children during your daily routine to make your role clear so you present the most compelling case for asserting your equal rights.
Call the Anthem Father’s Rights Lawyers at Stewart Law Group Today
Reach out to Stewart Law Group, for one of the best father’s rights attorneys to protect your right to equal consideration for child custody. Our skilled negotiators and experienced Anthem divorce attorneys are the right team to put behind your family law legal matter.