Asked by the Customer on 03-10-2014 09:25:36
Question posted in the Divorce Law category relating to Western Cape
Question posted in the Divorce Law category relating to Western Cape
Would like to enquire regarding the rights of a mother regarding the custody of your 3 year old son. In which cases can the father be granted custody and not the mother.
Out of my previous marraige I have a son of 13 years old and I have custody of him and father has visitation rights, will this count in my favour?
Please will you assist me
Out of my previous marraige I have a son of 13 years old and I have custody of him and father has visitation rights, will this count in my favour?
Please will you assist me
Message from the Attorney
Posted by Att. Patrick on 03-10-2014 17:44:57
Hi there and thank you for your question,
Sole custody generally refers to having exclusive “physical “and “legal” custody rights regarding the child. This means that the parent granted sole custody shall exclusively be responsible for decisions regarding the upbringing and care of the child. Our courts are often reluctant to grant sole custody awards in favour of one parent as it is in the best interests of a child to have both parents present and involved in his/ her growth and upbringing. Sole Custody is usually awarded in cases where one parent is abusive towards a child or of one parent is an unfit parent eg. A drug addict who is incapable of administering the appropriate care and caution that is necessary in the upbringing of a minor child or a parent who is the perpetrator of some form of child abuse against the child.
In terms of the Child Care Act, the best interest of the child is of paramount importance and is the determining factor insofaras establishing who the custodian parent should be.
More often that not the courts would only grant physical custody to one of the parents. i.e. the child must live with the mother, but the father has rights of reasonable access to the child.
Can I confirm: You are worried that the father may be granted sole custody so you want to check it with me?
Can you give a little bit more information as to why you think the father would get sole custody?
Without going into the facts, if you have physical custody of the 13 year old from your previous marriage, there is a good chance that you would get physical custody of the 3 year old from this relationship.
Looking foward to your further information.
Att. Patrick
Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.
Sole custody generally refers to having exclusive “physical “and “legal” custody rights regarding the child. This means that the parent granted sole custody shall exclusively be responsible for decisions regarding the upbringing and care of the child. Our courts are often reluctant to grant sole custody awards in favour of one parent as it is in the best interests of a child to have both parents present and involved in his/ her growth and upbringing. Sole Custody is usually awarded in cases where one parent is abusive towards a child or of one parent is an unfit parent eg. A drug addict who is incapable of administering the appropriate care and caution that is necessary in the upbringing of a minor child or a parent who is the perpetrator of some form of child abuse against the child.
In terms of the Child Care Act, the best interest of the child is of paramount importance and is the determining factor insofaras establishing who the custodian parent should be.
More often that not the courts would only grant physical custody to one of the parents. i.e. the child must live with the mother, but the father has rights of reasonable access to the child.
Can I confirm: You are worried that the father may be granted sole custody so you want to check it with me?
Can you give a little bit more information as to why you think the father would get sole custody?
Without going into the facts, if you have physical custody of the 13 year old from your previous marriage, there is a good chance that you would get physical custody of the 3 year old from this relationship.
Looking foward to your further information.
Att. Patrick
Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.
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